Breakthrough Zinc Oxide Process Increases Thin Film Solar Performance

Solar PV manufacturer Oerlikon Solar has pioneered a new thin film solar technology process, which it claims has made its solar cells 7 per cent efficient - a 16 per cent energy improvement over its previous technology. The advance has led to a 50 per cent increase in the capacity of its thin film solar fabrication plant.

So, why is this important? Well, thin film cells are typically a lot cheaper to produce than more common silicon solar cells, but often suffer from significantly lower conversion efficiencies. Oerlikon’s breakthrough moves us a lot closer to the day when thin film becomes more cost-effective than silicon-based panels - which could mean a dramatic rise in the adoption of solar power in homes and businesses.

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As Chris O’Brien, head of Market Development at Oerlikon explains, “We see a clear path to improve the performance of this technology to deliver the capability to produce PV modules at significantly under $1.00/W within the next two years.”

The new process, called Amorph High Performance, optimises the use of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) material, which has superior light-trapping properties. The technique means that amorphous silicon can be deposited over a much larger area than is possible when crystalline silicon is sliced to form ‘wafers.’

The breakthrough marks an important step in the race towards the mass adoption of solar technology, and is likely to be closely watched by competitors such as NanoSolar, First Solar and Miasole.

Image Credit - Mike Weston via flickr.com on a Creative Commons license

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