The Air Is Getting Thinnel

摘要

A worldwide surplus of solar modules is placing the thin-film technology under even greater pressure to succeed. The "Fifth Thin-Film Photovoltaics User Forum" in Germany permitted an updated appraisal of the practical status quo worldwide.rnThe silicon bottleneck in the photovoltaic industry has triggered a full-blown thin-film hype in recent years. The developments were driven above all by financial investors who took money into their hands to fund countless start-ups or even to purchase turnkey production lines for thin-film modules of amorphous silicon. But then even initial signs of an end to the silicon shortage brought out the first sceptical observers.rn"All technologies whose efficiency lies below 10 % will disappear from the market", is for example the prophecy given by Eric Riiland, Sales Manager at German technology service provider GP Solar GmbH. Lars Podlowski, Chief Technical Officer of module manufacturer Solon SE, believes that thin-film modules which fall short of the 10 % efficiency mark are already today no longer competitive. At a thin-film conference in San Francisco in early December last year, Podlowski commented on the options for a new entry into the photovoltaics sector: "My choice would be crystalline silicon."