Survival Path Seen For Amorphous Thin Film « TechPulse 360

Survival Path Seen For Amorphous Thin Film « TechPulse 360

Equipment supplier Oerlikon, on the other hand, is not balking. O’Brien says he expects the global production capacity of amorphous cells to someday rival that of cadmium telluride, presently the most popular thin-film technology. First Solar, the world’s largest solar producer and the only significant maker of cadmium telluride, has about 18 percent of the global solar market.
Amorphous production capacity from manufacturers, such as Sharp and Konica Minolta, will add up, says O’Brien.
Thin-film advocates, such as Oerlikon, argue that a lot of the expected cost reductions have already been wrung from crystalline-cell manufacturing. Price declines will eventually slow.
This will leave an opening for thin film. It is an opening Oerlikon hopes to capitalize on. The company says the cost of thin-film cells made with its equipment will drop to 70 cents a watt by the end of the year, from $1 at the year’s start and a $1.50 in 2008.
This may not enable them to catch those from First Solar, which early this year reached 81 cents. (First Solar is likely to offer a new benchmark when it releases quarterly earnings next week.) But O’Brien sees competition increasing and says more significant cost reductions are expected next year. He declined to offer a target.
He says Oerlikon was able to avoid Applied Materials’ fate by maintaining a technological advantage. First, the company’s micromorph tandem junction technology is generating module efficiencies of 8.5 to 9 percent, up from the 7 to 8 percent of a single junction cell.

First Solar’s Cautious Sales Outlook, Cost Improvement « TechPulse 360

First Solar’s Cautious Sales Outlook, Cost Improvement « TechPulse 360

On a conference call, it said:
*Module manufacturing costs fell to 76 cents a watt, down 5 cents from the first quarter. Annual throughput per line was up 6 percent to 59 megawatts and material costs were lower. The company’s target is to reach 52 cents to 63 cents a watt in 2014.
*Utility-scale projects are expected to increase. First Solar said it anticipates building 500 to 700 megawatts of projects in North America during 2011, up from 175 megawatts this year.
*Demand is expected to exceed supply in 2010. First Solar expects production capacity to be 2.2 gigawatts by 2012, up from 1.4 gigawatts this year. Module conversion efficiency was 11.2 percent in the second quarter compared with 11.1 percent in the first quarter.

Silicon Valley’s Solar Innovators Forced to Retool - NYTimes.com

Silicon Valley’s Solar Innovators Forced to Retool - NYTimes.com

Finer System Level Details for the Comparison of Photovoltaic Technologies | Alternative Energy Stocks

Finer System Level Details for the Comparison of Photovoltaic Technologies | Alternative Energy Stocks

Flexible PV modules promise to be integrated into building materials, similar to the way United Solar, a division of Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), laminations have been used in single ply roofing and standing seam metal roofing. When a PV technology can reduce the structural balance of systems (BOS) cost there is an economy for the installation due to the lack of glass and the potential for true building integration. Look for CIGS companies like Miasolé, Global Solar Energy, Ascent Solar (ASTI), and Nuvosun to follow in SoloPower's footsteps in certifying the long-term performance and safety of high efficiency flexible PV modules for building integrated (BIPV) and other flexible applications.

Nanosolar: Solar Power at a Lower Cost

Nanosolar: Solar Power at a Lower Cost

The low efficiency which haunted Nanosolar raising the cost of installation of solar-power arrays and which necessitated more solar panels has been addressed successfully by Nanosolar. The larger panels they are now using generate more power; with modifications that cut the cost, the larger panels generate 160 watts as against 70 watts by First Solar.
Power output:
According to Martin Roscheisen, Nanosolar’s CEO, in sunny locations, power plants with these panels could produce electricity at 5-6 cents per kilowatt hour. Mr. Roscheisen claimed even the 16.4 % energy conversion in sunlight as against 20% energy conversion in the lab and only 11% of that energy into electricity by Nanosolar is high enough compared to conventional solar panels.
Not bankable?
But the claimed low costs are attainable only at close-to-capacity operation level which is at best a distant possibility. Because despite all improvements, under the current economic scenario, Nanosolar is finding it tough to find banks willing to back power plants which may be ready to use their solar panels. Now the panels are not yet “bankable;” but Nanosolar is hoping for a better future.