Standard Solar Cells vs. Next-Gen Cells: Which is Winning?

摘要

In many manufacturing decisions the question is whether to pursue the higher-tech or the lower-cost option. Build it better, or make it cheaper? The answer is largely determined by what the market will bear, of course. Such is the case with the current photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing market. Overcapacity and cuts to feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates have dramatically impacted the solar market in the past couple of years, resulting in a decrease in demand and, therefore, a lowering of module - and, by default, cell - prices. And, while manufacturing lower-cost cells - what I refer to as standard cells - is winning the current high-tech vs. low-cost battle, steady continuous technology improvements are still reaping gains.