29 October 2012

Innovative production equipment key to survival in turbulent solar panel market

With production overcapacity of 82%, solar panel manufacturers need to acquire innovative production equipment in order to cut costs, increase margins, and differentiate their products from less expensive Chinese rivals, says market analysis firm Lux Research. This year, global capacity utilization is at 55% for crystalline silicon (x-Si) module production, 70% for cadmium telluride (CdTe) and 80% for copper indium gallium (di) selenide (CIGS).

“Across the industry there is recognition that innovation is needed to survive a shakeout,” said Fatima Toor, Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Opportunities in the Turbulent Photovoltaic Equipment Market. “Equipment suppliers have a vital role to play in enabling that innovation.”

Lux Research examined the PV production equipment market to identify opportunities for innovation:

• Reducing silicon costs: Current wafer sawing techniques waste silicon; in contrast, technologies, such as direct solidification and epitaxial silicon eliminate the need for wafer sawing. Emerging quasi-monocrystalline silicon (qc-Si) ingot growth enables 40% cheaper c-Si wafers.

• CIGS standardization: CIGS thin-film PV relies on custom equipment today. However, off-the-shelf tools and improved throughput will drive higher efficiencies, performance and yield – lowering capex and helping manufacturers attain scale and competitive production costs.

• New cell designs: Emerging cell designs, such as selective emitter (SE) and heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) present potential for high efficiencies. However, they require new tools, and as a result, 60-70% of new equipment sales are for the cell production equipment.

Tags: Solar panels CIGS CdTe x-Si

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