Solar 17tiwari

High efficiency flexible solar cells on
polymer foils: World record at the ETHZ

Ayodhya N. Tiwari
D. Brmaud, D. Rudmann, M. Kaelin, C. Hibberd*, H. Zogg
Thin Film Physics Group
Laboratory for Solid State Physics
ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zrich
tiwari@phys.ethz.ch
Acknowledgements
Swiss Federal Office of Energy, Swiss National Science Foundation,
Swiss Federal Office of Science and Education for the EU project
METAFLEX
ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) Zurich
Thin Film Physics Group www.tfp.ethz.ch
Flexible solar cells
Practical solution provider
Solar light
Solar cells: Viable solution provider
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Cost effective / Low cost
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Solar module cost $ / W
p
depends on:
Processing and component costs $ / m
2
Efficiency and stability W
p
/ m
2
Production volume W
p
/ Year
Throughput
Yield
Waste
Important
High efficiency & long term stable performance
Outline
Overview of solar cells (PV)
Comparison of flexible solar cells
Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
(called CIGS) solar cells
Applications
Outlook
Solar light
Solar cells for terrestrial applications
Si- wafers
Si- thin film
CIGS thin film
CdTe thin film
TiO
2
(Graetzel)
Organic
Thin film solar cells
Material Junctions Efficiency
Amorphous Si Triple 14.6% 13%
CdTe Single 16.5%
CIGS Single 19.5%
Technology comparison
Solar cells on plastic foils
Base
material
Cell
efficiency
(%)
Stability
under light
Commercial
availability
a-Si 6 12# Degrades Yes
CIGS* 8 14
(15 with AR
coating ?)
Good Not yet
CdTe* 6 11.4 Good Not yet
Others 2 - 6 ? Not yet
*-ETHZ holds the efficiency world record
# Efficiency depending on number of junctions and substrate
Why thin film CIGS solar cells ?
Very high efficiency
Highly stable performance for terrestrial and
space applications
Lightweight and flexible cells possible
Low cost potential
2 to 3 times higher radiation tolerance
compared to conventional (Si or GaAs) solar
cells in space
Space radiation (e- & p-) hardness of solar cells
10
8
10
9
10
10
10
11
10
12
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
dose in orbit
per year
CdTe
CIGS
InP/Si
InP/InP
InGaP/InGaP
InP/GaAs/Ge
Si
GaAs/Ge
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0
Displacement Damage Dose D
s
[MeV/g]
CIGS has superior stability
NASA & Air Force, USA invested in flexible CIGS
CIGS Solar Cell Configuration
Substrate
(Glass, Metal Foil,
Polymer)
50nm
CdS or
ZnSe
Chemical Bath
Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
Co-Evaporation
ZnO Sputtering
Mo Sputtering
1-2
"m
Physical Vapor Deposition System for Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
Layers
Compound formation:
Reaction of evaporated
elements
at the substrate
Process optimization:
Evaporation flux of elements
(800 - 1300 C)
Substrate temperature
(400 - 600 C)
Industrial production systems :
In-line deposition on 60 x 120 cm
2
Roll- to- Roll deposition
Se
In
Cu
vacuum
pump
Substrate
Substrate Holder
+ Heating
Shutter
Ion gauge
Ga
crucibles
NaF
Flux measurement
CIGS absorber layer
Thickness of ~ 2 "m
Columnar large grains (~ 1 "m)
Smooth surface
Optimum band gap & grading
Optimum Cu/(In+Ga) composition
Low microstructural defects
Doping / Passivation with Na
CuInSe
2
(1.04 eV) and CuGaSe
2
(1.67 ev)
Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
(1.25 eV)
High efficiency @ 550 C
Lower efficiency @ 400 C
Most important part of the solar cell
Different methods of CIGS deposition
Relevance of Na effects: Band gap grading
SIMS
SIMS
0.01
2
4
0.1
2
4
1
2
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2000 1000 0
Approx. Sputter Depth (nm)
400 C
2000 1000 0
500 C
PDT SLG
In
Ga
2000 1000 0
580 C
Ga notch: Inherent to 3-stage process
Smoothed by In-Ga interdiffusion
!T
sub,max
> 450 C: More smoothing in PDT absorbers
!Na impedes In-Ga interdiffusion
CIGS PVD-CdS
CBD-CdS
CIGS
CIGS
CIGS
CBD-CdS
5 nm
CIGS-buffer interface
PVD-CdS
CIGS
layer
In
2
S
3
210C
240C
CIGS
In
2
S
3
In
2
S
3
CIGS
In
2
S
3
CIGS
scan length (nm) scan length (nm)
5 nm
CIGS-buffer interface
Substrate for CIGS solar modules: Glass vs foil
3 mm
Glass
3 mm
Glass
~ 200 "m
Solar cell thickness ~ 4 "m
ZnO:Al/ZnO/CdS/CIGS/Mo
Module on glass: Bulky
Fragile
Heavy (x10
4
)
Flexible solar modules offer several advantages
CIGS solar modules: Industrial production
Pilot production-line & start-up
Shell Solar (USA, Germany)
Wurth Solar (Germany)
Showa Shell (Japan)
Sulfurcell (Germany)
ISET (USA)
Solibro (Sweden)
EDF-CNRS (France)
and
Global Solar (USA)
ISET (USA)
Solarion (Germany)
CIS Solar (Germany)
CIS Solartechnik (Germany)
Matsushita (Japan)
Nano Solar (USA)
Miasole (USA)
Magnolia solar (USA)
and.
On glass
On flexible foils
(Mostly on metals)
Difficult in R&D labs!
Good for industrial production !
Why thin film solar cells on flexible substrates ?
Roll to roll deposition process for industrial production
Reduction of manufacturing time and cost
Low energy pay back time
Novel applications of light-weight and flexible solar cells
Roofs and facades in buildings
Portable source of power
Consumer electronics, smart cards, etc.
Value added products
Automobiles & boats
Space applications
Application requirements
High efficiency: 15%
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Low cost
Essentials
Flexible CIGS solar cells on polyimide developed at ETHZ
Encapsulation
Cu(In,Ga)Se
2
(~2"m)
ZnO
Mo
Polyimide (~20 "m)
CdS or ZnSe ( 0.02 "m)
Solar light
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9
9
9
12.8% World Record efficiency (total area, no AR)
Detachable Solar Power Jacket
Artists imagination (M. Leopold)
Imagination Reality
Not straightforward !
Solar cell developed at ETHZ
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New world record of highest efficiency
Flexible and lightweight CIGS solar cells on plastic
CIGS solar cells developed with an innovative process
Independently certified efficiency of 14.1%
New world record of highest efficiency
Flexible and lightweight CIGS solar cells on plastic
V
oc
= 649.4 mV
J
sc
= 31.48 mA/cm
2
FF = 69.1%
! = 14.1%
Certified efficiency: Total area, AM1.5 illumination, no AR coating
Progress in flexible CIGS solar cells
on polymer foils
Efficiency improvement from 14% to >15%
Efficiency improvement from 14% to >15%
Reflection loss~13%
Spectral dependence of quantum efficiency
Apply anti reflection coating!
Efficiency improvement due to anti-reflection coating
Cell without AR coating: 15.3%
Cell with AR coating: 16.5%
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Monolithically connected CIGS solar modules
ZnO:Al (1 "m)
CdS or Zns (0.03 "m)
CIGS (2 "m)
Mo (1 "m)
Substrate
Encapsulation & Lamination
Patterning of front contact
& wiring
ZnO:Al Front contact
deposition by
sputtering
Mo back contact
deposition by sputtering
Scribing of Mo
by laser beam
CIGS absorber deposition
by vacuum evaporation
CdS or ZnS buffer
deposition
by chemical method
Patterning of buffer/CIGS
by mechanical scribing
Technology development needed !
Flexible CIGS module on plastic foil
Monolithic inter-connection
of solar cells
ETHZ and ZSW collaboration (EU project: METAFLEX)
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Main terrestrial solar electricity market segments
Consumer
Consumer
Off-Grid Industrial
Off-Grid Industrial
On-Grid
On-Grid
320 MW / 71%
30 MW / 7%
30 MW / 7%
70 MW / 15%
Market in 2002
Economically
viable
Dependant on
market support
programs
Off-Grid Residential
Off-Grid Residential
Towards an Effective European Industrial Policy for PV.ppt / 05.06.2004 / Rapp @ RWE SCHOTT Solar GmbH
Source: EPIA
Solar Plane with Solar Cells ??
Solar plane developed by Mike Garton, mike@iastate.edu
Lightweight and flexible can help to fly!
But high efficiency needed
Portable Power for Laptops
Conventional technology: Available but not suitable
Si wafer: Very heavy (2.5 3.5 kg)
with (~14% efficiency)
Power requirement:
10 50 Watt
Potential of CIGS flexible
technology:
Very lightweight (10 times lighter)
&
Compact (50% less area needed)
a-Si films: Very large area
(>0.66 m
2
with 6% efficiency)
Solar cell applications: Portable power
C-Si wafer based cells: Efficient but heavy, rigid, fragile
Portable solar modules
~$ 25 million - projects
on flexible solar cells
DARPA, USA announcement in 2004
U.S. demand for batteries
in military & aerospace:
$930 million in 2002
$1,221 million in 2009
Source: Frost &Sullivan, New York (http://mae.pennet.com)
Images: www.wired.com
(Konarka, USA)
Flexible CIGS modules from Global Solar, USA
Courtesy: http://www.itnes.com/product, http://www.globalsolar.com/
Solar cell applications: Tents (mostly based on a-Si)
Iowa Thin Film Technologies www.oksolar.com
www.mpl.ird.fr
www.solarintegrated.com (solar cells from Uni-Solar)
Solar cell applications: Buildings
Solar factory, Gelsenkirchen DE
Solarsail, Mnsingen
(www.solarsail.ch)
Imagine rural and urban buildings with flexible PV
Power requirement: 10
Power requirement: 10
80 watts
80 watts
Solar Refrigerators: Portable or Fixed
www.global-merchants.com
Coleman Exponent FLEX 5 Foldable Solar Charger
Efficient chargers: c-Si wafer based
Very heavy !
Solar powered refrigerator for medicine & food
So heavy !
Why not lightweight ?
PV module
Cool box
Photograph Source: Unknown, Sorry!!
Power output from solar module*
12% efficiency means 120 watt from 1 m
2
surface area exposed to sun
Lower efficiency means larger area needed
Efficiency
Efficiency
*
*
Area
Area
need
need
for
for
20 W
20 W
12% (CIGS)
12% (CIGS)
0.166 m
0.166 m
2 2
(0.3 X 0.55 m
(0.3 X 0.55 m
2 2
)
)
6%
6%
0.332 m
0.332 m
2 2
(0.3 X 1.1 m
(0.3 X 1.1 m
2 2
)
)
3%
3%
0.664 m
0.664 m
2 2
(0.3 X 2.2 m
(0.3 X 2.2 m
2 2
)
)
*- Under AM1.5 illumination
Importance of efficiency to meet the
power requirement
Deliverable output power (W)
from 1 m
2
module
Incident solar energy (W/m
2
)
1000
(Sunny)
500 200
(Cloudy)
15 150 75 30
10 100 50 20
5 50 25 10
Module
efficiency
(%)
High efficiency: 14%
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Low cost
Essentials
ETHZ solar cell: Unique combination of 4
attributes in 1 device
Outlook
Higher efficiency, lightweight
and flexible solar modules
Larger area scale-up
production
Applications
Cost reduction
R&D to industrial manufacturing
& viable solutions
Innovative R&D to industrial manufacturing
Flexible CIGS on plastic foil of 30 x 30 cm
2
area
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tiwari@phys.ethz.ch

Solar 17tiwari

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High efficiency flexible solar cells on

polymer foils: World record at the ETHZ

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