POLYSIMODE · Improved Polycrystalline-Silicon Modules on Glass Substrates

The aim of this project is to improve the efficiency and the cost-effectiveness of thin-film polysilicon solar modules. Thin-film polysilicon solar cells have recently emerged as a promising thin-film alternative to bulk crystalline Si. With Solid Phase Crystallization (SPC) of amorphous Si, CSG Solar AG recently achieved mini-modules with an efficiency of around 10%, matching the efficiencies of the best European micromorph mini-modules. The efficiency of polysilicon modules will be enhanced in this project by improvement of the crystallographic and electronic quality of the polysilicon material and by the develoment of advanced new methods for light confinement. By in-depth characterization of the polysilicon material, a better understanding of the relationship between the processing parameters, the electrical and optical properties of the material and the resulting device properties will be obtained. The main goals are to have large-area polysilicon modules with an efficiency of 12% and with a cost of 0.7 Euro per Watt peak at the end of the project. The active participation of CSG within this project will allow the consortium to produce module demonstrators by using the pilot line of CSG and also to accurately determine the effect of newly developed process steps on the cost-effectiveness of polysilicon modules. This makes sure that there is a good chance to bring the developed technologies directly into real mass production at the end of the project. These objectives fit very well in the topic ENERGY.2009.2.1.1 - Efficiency and material issues for thin-film photovoltaics. The expected impact of the proposed project is to enhance the efficiency of polysilicon modules, thereby increasing their cost-effectiveness. Since all the main European institutes working on thin-film polysilicon solar cells are joining forces within this project, a substantial acceleration in the improvement of the cost-effectiveness of polysilicon modules is expected.