M. Izu

Roll-to-roll manufacturing of amorphous silicon alloy solar cells with in situ cell performance diagnostics

In order to meet the price target necessary for widespread use of solar cell products, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., ECD, has developed and commercialized a continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing technology for the production of a-Si alloy solar cells. Since the early 1980s, we have advanced this technology from a small-scale pilot machine to a large-scale production machine. In 2002, ECD commissioned a 30 MW per year machine for United Solar Systems Corp. in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The RF PECVD a-Si alloy solar cell processor, designed and built by ECD, deposits triple-junction solar cell materials consisting of nine layers of a-Si alloys in a continuous roll-to-roll operation simultaneously on six coils of 130 μm thick, 0.36 m wide, 2.6 km long stainless-steel substrate at 1 cm/s. In order to minimize production losses due to undetected deviations of production conditions and carry on a continuous program of device optimization, we have developed and are incorporating in situ cell performance diagnostic systems.

Amorphous Silicon Alloy Photovoltaic Technology - from R&D to Production

The key requirements for photovoltaic modules to be accepted for large-scale terrestrial applications are (i) low material cost, (ii) high efficiency with good stability, (iii) low manufacturing cost with good yield and (iv) environmental safety. Thin films of amorphous silicon alloy are inexpensive; the products are also environmentally benign. The challenge has been to improve the stable efficiency of these modules and transfer the R&D results into production. Using a Multijunction, Multi-bandgap approach to capture the solar spectrum more efficiently, we have developed one-square-foot modules with initial efficiency of 11.8%. After 1000 h of one-sun light soaking, a stable efficiency of 10.2% was obtained. Both the efficiency values were confirmed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The technology has been transferred to production using an automated roll-to-roll process in which different layers of the cell structure are deposited in a continuous manner onto stainless steel rolls, 14” wide and half a mile long. The rolls are next processed into modules of different sizes. This inexpensive manufacturing process produces high efficiency modules with subcell yields greater than 99%. The key features of the technology transfer and future scope for improvement are discussed.

Roll-to-roll plasma deposition machine for the production of tandem amorphous silicon alloy solar cells☆

Abstract A roll-to-roll plasma deposition machine for depositing multilayered amorphous alloys has been developed. The plasma deposition machine has multiple deposition areas and processes a stainless steel substrate 16 in wide continuously. Amorphous photovoltaic thin films (less than 1 μm thick) with a six-layer structure (p-i-n-p-i-n) are deposited continuously in a single pass onto a roll of stainless steel substrate 16 in wide and 1000 ft long. Mass production of low cost tandem solar cells utilizing roll-to-roll processes is now possible. A commercial plant utilizing this plasma deposition machine for manufacturing tandem amorphous silicon alloy solar cells is now in operation.

Continuous roll‐to‐roll amorphous silicon photovoltaic manufacturing technology

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) has designed and constructed a 2 Megawatt (mW) manufacturing line that produces triple‐junction spectrum‐splitting a‐Si alloy solar cells in a continuous roll‐to‐roll process. This manufacturing line has reliably and consistently produced high efficiency solar cells. We have demonstrated the production of 4ft 2 triple‐junction two band‐gap a‐Si alloy PV production modules with 8% stable aperture area efficiency. The production line has successfully incorporated: 1) a band‐gap profiled a‐Si‐Ge narrow band‐gap solar cell deposited in a continuous roll‐to‐roll process using a proprietary gas distribution manifold and cathode configuration; and 2) a textured Ag/ZnO back‐reflector deposited in a continuous roll‐to‐roll sputtering machine with production subcell yields greater than 99%.

Production Of Tandem Amorphous Silicon Alloy Solar Cells In A Continuous Roll-To-Roll Process

A roll-to-roll plasma deposition machine for depositing multi-layered amorphous alloys has been developed. The plasma deposition machine (approximately 35 ft. long) has multiple deposition areas and processes 16-inch wide stainless steel substrate continuously. Amorphous photovoltaic thin films (less than 1pm) having a six layered structure (PINPIN) are deposited on a roll of 16-inch wide 1000 ft. long stainless steel substrate, continu-ously, in a single pass. Mass production of low-cost tandem amorphous solar cells utilizing roll-to-roll processes is now possible. A commercial plant utilizing this plasma deposition machine for manufacturing tandem amorphous silicon alloy solar cells is now in operation. At Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD), one of the major tasks of the photovoltaic group has been the scale-up of the plasma deposition process for the production of amorphous silicon alloy solar cells. Our object has been to develop the most cost effective way of producing amorphous silicon alloy solar cells having the highest efficiency. The amorphous silicon alloy solar cell which we produce has the following layer structure: 1. Thin steel substrate. 2. Multi-layered photovoltaic amorphous silicon alloy layers (approximately 1pm thick; tandem cells have six layers). 3. ITO. 4. Grid pattern. 5. Encapsulant. The deposition of the amorphous layer is technologically the key process. It was clear to us from the beginning of this scale-up program that amorphous silicon alloy solar cells produced in wide width, continuous roll-to-roll production process would be ultimate lowest cost solar cells according to the following reasons. First of all, the material cost of our solar cells is low because: (1) the total thickness of active material is less than 1pm, and the material usage is very small; (2) silicon, fluorine, hydrogen, and other materials used in the device are abundant and low cost; (3) thin, low-cost substrate is used; and (4) product yield is high. In addition, the development of high efficiency cells in future time will further reduce the material cost. Secondly, the labor cost associated with the production of our solar cells is low because our process utilizes simple, high production rate, highly automated processing for the complete fabrication of photovoltaic modules. Specifically, six layers of tandem amorphous silicon alloy solar cell are plasma-deposited on a roll of wide stainless steel substrate, continuously in a single pass. Over one order of magnitude increase in the line speed is straightforward from an engineering point of view. Other downstream process steps for the fabrication of photovoltaic modules also utilize simple, high production rate, highly automated machineries.

Manufacturing of triple-junction 4 ft/sup 2/ a-Si alloy PV modules

Spectrum splitting, triple-junction a-Si alloy 4 ft/sup 2/ PV modules have been assembled utilizing solar cells produced in a 2 Megawatt continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing line. This manufacturing line produces solar cells on a 5 mm thick, 14 inch wide and 2500 foot long stainless steel roll at a speed of 1 ft/min. The layered structure of the solar cells is: SS/Ag/ZnO/n/sub 1/i/sub 1/p/sub 1/n/sub 2/i/sub 2/p/sub 2n/sub 3/i/sub 3/p/sub 3TCO, where i/sub 1/ is band-gap graded a-SiGe alloy, i/sub 2/ and i/sub 3/ are a-Si and all of p/sub 1/, p/sub 2/ and p/sub 3/ are /spl mu/c-Si p/sup +/. These PV modules provide 9.5% initial and 8.0% stable conversion efficiencies, the highest reported values for a-Si alloy production modules (/spl ges/4 ft/sup 2/). Major accomplishments which produced the significant efficiency included: (1) the incorporation, for the first time, of a band-gap profiled a-SiGe narrow band-gap solar cell into a continuous roll-to-roll process; (2) the incorporation, for the first time, of a high performance texturized Ag/ZnO back-reflector system into a continuous roll-to-roll process with production subcell yields greater than 99%.<<ETX>>

Assessment of the Use of Microcrystalline Silicon Materials Grown at Rates Near 15 Å/s as i-layer Material for Single and Multi-Junction Solar Cells

A microwave-based technique has been used to prepare microcrystalline Si (µc-Si) materials rates near 15 A/s. The use of these materials as intrinsic layers (i-layers) for single and multi-junction devices has been assessed. Since the high deposition rates allow for fabrication of the required thicker µc-Si i-layers in a similar amount of time to that used for high quality a-SiGe i-layers (rates of 1-3 A/s), the materials are attractive, low cost replacements for a-SiGe bottom cell i-layers in a-Si/a-SiGe and a-Si/a-SiGe/a-SiGe multi-junction cells. Single-junction nip, a-Si/µc-Si and a-Si/a-SiGe/µc-Si devices have been fabricated. For these devices, the doped and amorphous layers were deposited using conventional rf glow discharge processes and deposition equipment separate from that used to fabricate the µc-Si materials. 7.0% efficiencies have been achieved for single-junction devices while pre-light soaked 9.8 and 11.4% efficiencies have been achieved for the tandem and triple-junction devices, respectively. The single-junction devices exhibit a degradation of only 0-2% after long term (1000 hrs.) of light soaking demonstrating a high degree of stability. Based on the present status, the µc-Si material prepared at high rates qualifies as a reasonable candidate for the i-layer of a bottom cell of a triple-junction device. Improvements in the performance, particularly the FF, will be needed before use in single-junction and tandem devices can be considered.

Preparation of Microcrystalline Silicon Based Solar Cells at High i-layer Deposition Rates Using a Gas Jet Technique

A Gas Jet technique has been used to prepare microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) thin films at deposition rates as high as 20 A/s. The films have microcrystal sizes between 80 and 120 A with a heterogeneous microstructure containing regions with columnar growth and other regions with a more randomly oriented microstructure. These materials have been used as i-layers for nip single-junction solar cells. The high deposition rates allow for fabrication of the required thicker μc-Si i-layers in a similar amount of time to those used for high quality a-SiGe:H i-layers (rates of 1-3 A/s). Using a 610nm cutoff filter which only allows red light to strike the device, pre-light soaked short circuit currents of 8-10 mA/cm 2 and 2.7% red-light efficiencies have been obtained while AM1.5 white light efficiencies are above 7%. These efficiencies are higher than those typically obtained for μc-Si cells prepared at the high i-layer growth rates using other deposition techniques. After 1000 h. of light soaking, the efficiencies on average degrade only by 2-5% (stabilized efficiencies of 2.6%) consistent with the expected high stability with the microcrystalline materials. The small amount of degradation compares with the 15-17% degradation in efficiencies for a-SiGe:H cells subjected to similar irradiation treatments (final light-soaked red light efficiencies of 3.2%). Improvements in the cell efficiencies may come through an understanding of the role that columnar microstructure and void structure plays in determining the device performance.

Development of transparent conductive oxide materials for improved back reflector performance for amorphous silicon based solar cells

A new back reflector comprised of an Al/(multi-layered stack)/ZnO structure is being developed to replace Al/ZnO used in manufacturing and boost conversion efficiencies with improved back reflector performance. Use of the multi-layered stack should lead to improved reflectivity which will in turn improve solar cell currents and efficiencies. The results from studies of different transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) which comprise the multi-layered stack are reported with emphasis on ZnO alloys. Alloying with Si or MgF 2 and using moderately high substrate temperatures, TCOs with low indices of refraction between 1.6 and 1.7 have been fabricated. The Si, Mg and F contents for these alloys were near 14, 12 and 33 at.%. Structural analysis demonstrates that alloys with MgF 2 have smother surfaces and finer morphologies than those for ZnO. The expected high values for multi-layered structures with these alloys have yet to be achieved but this is likely due to properties of layers in the structure other than the ZnO alloys which have yet to be fully optimized.

Comparison of Structural Properties and Solar Cell Performance of a-Si:H Films Prepared at Various Deposition Rates using 13.56 and 70 MHz PECVD Methods

The advantage of using very high frequencies for preparation of a-Si:H materials at high rates (above 5 A/s) for intrinsic layers (i-layer) of solar cells has been well documented. In an effort to identify film properties which may be related to this superior device performance, a study of the structural, optical and electrical properties of films made at various deposition rates between 1 and 15 A/s using rf frequencies of 13.56 and 70 MHz has been made. The films were characterized using a number of techniques including small-angle x-ray scattering, infrared absorption spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. For the films made using the 70 MHz frequency, the amount of nanovoids with sizes of 200 A. This scattering is associated with large bulk density fluctuations and/or enhanced surface roughness. None of the films in the study displayed signs of having columnar-like microstructures. The nanovoids are not related to changes in the solar cells with increasing i-layer deposition rate for both fabrication processes, perhaps due to the relatively small volume fractions of less than 0.2% and/or good void-surface passivation. However, the larger-scale structures detected in the films made using the 13.56 MHz technique could cause poorer performance in cells prepared at high growth rates.