Startup Makes Peel-Off Solar Cells [View all]

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/39519/

[font face=Times, Serif][font size=5]Startup Makes Peel-Off Solar Cells[/font]
[font size=4]Astrowatt's wafer-making method could mean cheaper solar power.[/font]

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 | By Kevin Bullis

[font size=3]Today, most solar cells are made with a process that turns almost half of the raw material—highly refined and processed crystalline silicon—into sawdust. A new process developed by startup Astrowatt aims to eliminate most of this waste while making solar cells more efficient.

Conventional solar manufacturing requires sawing a block of crystalline silicon into wafers about 180 micrometers thick. As the saw cuts through the silicon, it turns almost the same amount of silicon (a layer 100 to 150 micrometers thick) into sawdust that can't typically be reused.

With the conventional process, a millimeter of silicon can produce about three solar-cell wafers. Astrowatt says it can make five or more wafers from the same amount of material by mostly replacing the sawing with a technique that allows it to peel thin layers of silicon away from a thick silicon wafer.

Astrowatt is one of several companies hoping to substantially reduce the amount of silicon needed to make solar cells. Although the price of silicon has dropped in recent years, it's still the most expensive item in solar-panel manufacturing.

…[/font][/font]