Technology Support for High-Throughput Processing of Thin-Film CdTe PV Modules Annual Technical Report, Phase II

Results and conclusions from Phase II of a three-year subcontract are presented. The subcontract, entitled Technology Support for High-Throughput Processing of Thin-Film CdTe PV Modules, is First Solar's portion of the Thin-Film Photovoltaic Partnership Program. The research effort of this subcontract is divided into four areas of effort: (1) process and equipment development, (2) efficiency improvement, (3) characterization and analysis, and (4) environmental, health, and safety. As part of the process and equipment development effort, a new semiconductor deposition system with a throughput of 3 m2/min was completed, and a production line in a new 75,000 ft2 facility was started and is near completion. As part of the efficiency-improvement task, research was done on cells and modules with thin CdS and buffer layers as way to increase photocurrent with no loss in the other photovoltaic characteristics. A number of activities were part of the characterization and analysis task, including developing a new admittance spectroscopy system, with a range of 0.001 Hz to 100 kHz, to characterize cells. As part of the environmental, health, and safety task, the methanol-based CdCl2 process was replaced with aqueous-CdCl2. This change enabled the retention of a De Minimus level of emissions for the manufacturing plant, so no permitting is required