Specific PVMaT R and D in CdTe Product Manufacturing; Phase II Annual Subcontract Technical Report; May 1999--September 2000

Just prior to the beginning of Phase II of the PVMaT project Solar Cells, Inc, (SCI) and True North Partners of Scottsdale, AZ, formed a joint venture partnership name First Solar, LLC. By the end of 1999, this event resulted in the construction of a new major manufacturing plant for photovoltaic modules, based on cadmium telluride, located in Perrysburg, a suburb of Toledo, Ohio. This plant was designed to be capable of producing PV modules at a rate of 100 MW per year within about three years. Significantly, a new semiconductor coating system, the heat of the production line, has already shown the capability of the 100 MW per year rate. These events have led to the expansion of the effort on the PVMaT project that included the former SCI team in Toledo, Ohio, a new team of engineering subcontractor, Product Search, Inc., and, later, a new laser team from First Solar, both from Scottsdale, Arizona. These three teams joined in a collaborative effort on Tasks 4: Manufacturing Line Improvements, on Task 5: Product Readiness, and on Task Environmental, Health, and Safety Issues. One Task 4 goal was to address the technical issues of the failed UL 1703 qualification testing in Phase I. Completing this goal, along with module lamination improvement done in Task 5, was instrumental in the design, fabrication, and installation of a high-throughput solar finishing line. The main components of this line, also a Task 4 project, were successfully tested in module finalization on the production line. Developing a novel, single-laser scribing system was another major accomplishment. In Task 5, the major activity was improved module lamination. Progress in Tasks 4 and 5 resulted in improved modules that were submitted for UL 1703 qualification testing. In March 2000, a new encapsulation process came under development, in which the back glass cover plate is substituted by a combination of a polymer layer as a dielectric and aluminum foil as a moisture barrier. The go al of the Environmental, Health, and Safety program is to conduct an extensive review of its current programs and address issues that need improvement