SOLAR TODAY - May 2011

Streamlining
SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

It’s easy to greet the proclamations of the U.S.;Department;of;Energy’s;(DOE);Sun- Shot;Initiative;with;skepticism.;The;goal, installing;utility-scale;solar;at;$1;per;watt by;2020,;would;bring;solar;power;down;to;6 cents;per;kilowatt-hour,;which;is;roughly;the cost;of;coal-fired;electricity.;The;name;itself;is sensationalistic;—;it’s;a;play;off;President;Ken- nedy’s;1961;pledge;to;land;a;man;on;the;moon by;the;end;of;the;decade.;When;Energy;Secre-tary Steven Chu in February rolled out the $27 million funding program, to be spread among nine companies, there was plenty of fanfare. But is SunShot more than just hoopla?

Some;solar;industry;executives;believe;they’re
well-positioned;to;succeed.;“We’ll;get;there,”;says
Frank;van;Mierlo,;CEO;of;SunShot;grant;recipi-
ent;1366;Technologies;( 1366tech.com).;“Look;at
the;historical;cost;curve;of;solar.;The;production
cost;comes;down;10;percent;every;year.”
At;1366,;van;Mierlo;and;fellow;co-founder
Emanuel;Sachs;are;working;to;commercialize
a method for manufacturing crystalline silicon
wafers that halves the need for hyper-pure sili-
con.;The;process,;which;virtually;eliminates;sili-
con;waste;(about;50;percent;is;currently;lost),
sets the stage for a dramatic wafer price drop.
“If;the;total;installed;cost;is;going;to;be;$1;that
means that wafer costs have to come down to

With a “thousand little cuts” approach, the SunShot Initiative aims to drop installed solar costs by 75 percent — in less than a decade.

By Mike kOsHMRl

about;25;cents,;from;$1;today,”;van;Mierlo;says.
“And;I;think;it’s;extremely;doable.;We’re;just;one
of many, many companies working on this, and
our technology alone will take one of the largest
cost components and slash the production costs
by;a;factor;of;three;—;at;least.”
To;achieve;$1;per;watt,;the;solar;industry
needs to streamline in a big way. It will need
considerable module efficiency gains and
slashed costs for installation, operations and
maintenance and all other systems components.
Photovoltaic;(PV);modules;will;need;to;come
down;70;percent,;inverters;by;55;percent;and
construction-related;costs;by;nearly;75;percent
(see;table;on;page;41).

(Below) Energy Secretary Chu toured 1366 Technologies in December to observe its Direct Wafer process. The North Lexington, Mass.-based firm was awarded a $3 million SunShot grant in February.

PPG Industries Target: Thin-film Efficiency, Durability

Thin-film;PV;technology;has;its;advantages — it’s lightweight, production is relatively cheap and simple, and it’s not silicon-dependent. Durability’s not one of them. Until nanotech compa-nies;make;headway;on;a;durable,;exposed;cell, commercial;thin-film;modules;will;continue;to require;robust;encapsulants.

As;First;Solar;and;other;thin-film;manufactur-ers;began;to;ramp;up,;that;need;caught;the;atten-tion;of;PPG;Industries;( ppg.com),;a;Pittsburgh-based glass and glass-coating manufacturer with