Open Competition - Electronics/Computer Hardware/Communications (October 2000)

Advancing the Solar Century -- Ubiquitous Solar Cell Manufacturing

Sponsor: Evergreen Solar, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2000 - 10/31/2003
• Total project (est.): $3,760,714.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

The market for photovoltaic cells has been growing annually at nearly 20 percent for the past two decades and now exceeds $1 billion worldwide. These cells hold great promise as a non-polluting, inexpensive, and portable energy source for developed nations, as well as developing nations where about one-third of the world's population lives without electricity. Increasing concerns about carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel energy sources, and rising fuel costs, have made solar power a potentially attractive option. Moreover, the state-by-state deregulation of the electric utility industry is causing a proliferation of small, independent power generators, a role that might be ideal for photovoltaic cells, which could be installed on commercial and residential rooftops. Solar cells are still too expensive to justify widespread use in the power grid, but Evergreen Solar has proposed a new technology that, if successful, will reduce the cost of generating solar energy to a level competitive with power derived from fossil fuels, hydro, and nuclear sources. Evergreen is one of only a handful of U.S.-owned firms that build photovoltaic cells. This innovative approach could be a coup for U.S. industries trying to compete in the solar electric market, which is expected to expand dramatically. This ATP project is a two-part effort: developing a desktop-size, energy-saving furnace for producing the silicon ribbons on which solar cells are built; and perfecting a novel single-step technique for printing "decals" that contain the rest of the solar cell's components. The decals could be printed by Evergreen at a central facility and then supplied to smaller, local manufacturing sites. This new approach offers the possibility of manufacture in areas of the country with little technical infrastructure. Workers at the local sites would transfer the decals onto the ribbons, and the cells would be fired in a single step. Researchers believe the inexpensive cells will make it possible to reduce the price of solar-electric power from the present $7 per watt to $2 per watt. While Evergreen has been successful in securing private funding for other, more incremental work, investors have been reluctant to finance this high-risk project because it hinges on developing new, less certain technology. ATP support will make the work possible. The company will work with researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California-Davis.

For project information:

Jack I. Hanoka, (781) 890-7117
hanoka@evergreensolar.com

ATP Project Manager

Purabi Mazumdar, (301) 975-4891
purabi.mazumdar@nist.gov