Publication date: 1st July 2014
Reaching cost competitiveness for photovoltaic solar modules has been and still is the major driving force of ongoing R&D efforts in the solar industry. crystalsol has been developing a novel design for PV module and a production technology based on the monograin membrane approach that combines the advantages of high throughput, low cost deposition techniques mainly from the printing industry with the versatility of a flexible, light weight, thin film solar module. The module design comprises a monolayer of crystal grains embedded in a fully flexible polymer membrane. The main feature of the monograin membrane technology is the separation of the synthesis of the semiconductor material from its large area deposition. The light absorbing material, the kesterite compound semiconductor Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4, is produced in a simple annealing process from elemental and binary precursor materials in a bulk process without the need for a vacuum step. Large area deposition for module production is realized by embedding the powder into a thin polymer layer – the monograin membrane. This two step approach allows the utilization of optimized single crystal growth conditions to obtained the best possible absorber material while at the same time producing modules in a non-complex, cost-effective and high throughput roll-to-roll printing process. Monolithic integration of solar cells is realized by patterning the front and the back contact layers that cover the membrane and by embedding conductive channels into the membrane, leading to a high degree of flexibility in module size, shape and cell layout even for small production batches. crystalsol has setup two laboratory production lines for powder synthesis and membrane manufacturing respectively. Current development efforts focus on scale up of the powder production process and the installation and ramp up of a pilot line for module manufacturing. Product qualification of prototype modules of up to 20 × 20 cm2 has recently been started and field tests are under way. Good product stability has already been verified by first results from accelerated life time testing.The contribution will introduce the process flow of the crystalsol roll-to-roll production process, discuss the inherent technological advantages of the monograin membrane technology and report on the current status and achievements. It will address typical scale up issues in PV module manufacturing and give an outlook onto future development of the monograin membrane technology.
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