Eco Factor: Solar equipment enables thin film silicon solar modules production at lower costs.
After First Solar broke the $1.00 a Watt price barrier last year with its non-silicon based thin film, which cost $0.76 cents a Watt, it’s now Swiss solar equipment manufacturing giant Oerlikon Solar creating waves. The company recently announced that they can enable solar manufacturers to produce their amorphous silicon thin film modules at a cost under $0.70 cents per watt.
Oerlikon Solar’s new equipment will help in mass-producing thin film silicon solar modules at low costs, which will be made possible because of the thinner silicon layer requirement, reducing material costs. It also uses more reflective back sheets that can capture stray electrons, which otherwise escape around the edges, increasing efficiency.
The company claims that their new technology will reduce cost by 25%, while the efficiency will increase by 12%. The award-winning invention that holds the potential to revolutionize the solar industry will be available by 2012.
Via: CleanTechnica
