SOLAR TODAY - May 2011

HENNESSYPRODUCTIONS.COM

With a $4.8 million award from the SunShot Initiative, Gloucester, Mass.-based Varian Semiconductor is developing a tool that manufactures interdigitated back-contact solar cells with ion-implanting technology. Featured above is a close-up of the tool.

PPG INDUS TRIES

Researchers at PPG Industries prepare glass samples for accelerated exposure testing for a new encapsulant for cadmium telluride (Cd Te) thin-film solar modules. The end product will combine transparent conducting oxide glass substrate with an anti-reflective coating.

roots;in;the;19th;century.;PPG’s;contribution;to solar actually predates the industry: Back in the 1930s,;the;company;pioneered;the;first;low-iron glass. Now, backed by $3.1 million in SunShot funding,;PPG;is;working;to;perfect;a;glass;encap-sulant for modules made with cadmium telluride (Cd Te);— ;the;most;advanced;thin-film;technol-ogy in mass production.

PPG;will;try;to;maximize;Cd Te;module;effi-
ciency by pulling three innovations onto their
high-transmission;glass.;“About;4. 5;percent;of
the sun’s energy is lost on the outside of the
module,” says Jim McCamy, PPG’s manager
of;solar;technology.;“By;reducing;losses;from
reflectivity,;we’re;increasing;the;number;of;watts.
By;creating;better;conductive;layers,;we;improve
the;number;of;watts.”
The new encapsulants, still unnamed, will
separate;the;first;layer;of;Cd Te;from;the;underly-
ing;transparent;conducting;oxide;(TCO);glass
substrate with a buffer layer. A third component,
an anti-reflective coating, will be applied to the
module;front;side;over;the;TCO;glass.;“These

1366 TECHNOLOGIES

Mike Koshmrl ( mkoshmrl@solartoday.org) is SOLAR TODAY’s associate editor.

At 1366 Technologies, Frank van Mierlo, right, and fellow co-founder Emanuel Sachs, middle, are working to commercialize their Direct Wafer silicon wafer manufacturing process. By pulling wafers directly from the silicon melt, the technology halves the need for hyper-pure silicon. At left is Carmichael Roberts, chairman of the 1366 Technologies Board.