Economics of processing thin-film solar cells

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Abstract
The commercial-scale processing potential for photovoltaic devices based on polycrystalline and amorphous silicon thin films is evaluated by analyzing in detail the semiconductor deposition process for the following material layers: (CdZn)S/CuInSe2, CdS/CdTe, (CdZn)S/Cu2S, and amorphous silicon. The current status of both laboratory-scale and unit-operations-scale experiments is tabulated and the goals required for reasonable commercial-scale production detailed. The costs of manufacture are estimated and it is shown that all thin-film materials which have achieved 10% efficiency in the laboratory can be manufactured at a cost well below one dollar per watt, provided the manufacturing facilities can be designed to produce between 100 000 and 1 000 000 square meters per year. The critical thin-film research areas are identified for each of the materials listed above.

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