EFFICIENCY AND COST REDUCTION POTENTIAL OF OERLIKON SOLAR LPCVD ZNO TCO IN THIN FILM SI MODULE TECHNOLOGY

摘要

To reach grid parity, substantial efficiency gains and cost reduction measures are necessary. The overall costs for front and back contact account for a substantial part of the whole costs of a thin film Si module. Unlike the common PVD technology, LPVCD ZnO TCO will continuously allow an increase in efficiency and a decrease in production costs. The cost reduction will largely come from an increasing deposition speed. Currently, LPCVD ZnO layers are deposited between 2 and 3 nm/s deposition rate. At this deposition speed the layer properties are well defined and widely used in industrial production of thin film silicon PV modules. Here LPCVD ZnO layers are presented, which are formed with deposition rates well above the 3 nm/s level. They are characterized and compared to standard LPCVD ZnO layers in respect to their morphological properties as well as their integration potential in amorphous and Micromorph technology. AFM, SEM, optical data as well as cell results are presented. To determine the cost impact of higher deposition rates the Oerlikon Solar cost of ownership roadmap for front and back contact is presented.