OSI - One Step Interconnect for Thin Film PV Modules
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Wolfson Sch of Mech, Elec & Manufac Eng
Abstract
The market for photovoltaic (PV) modules has expanded dramatically from 6.4GW in 2009 to 37GW in 2013. PV demand is
poised for explosive growth to reach 49GW in 2014, and is forecast to reach up to 100GW by 2018. This end-market
growth is projected to increase annual PV module revenues, which are forecast to reach US$50 billion in 2018. Despite
being severely hampered by overcapacity and declining operating margins during 2012 and 2013, the PV industry still grew
34% over this two-year period. Thin film PV has approximately a 10% market share and has inherent cost advantages,
especially in the development of utility scale installations. As part of the manufacturing process, it is necessary to
interconnect gridded areas of the PV module to form long series connected PV regions. In this project, the interconnect will
be achieved using a new laser ablation/inkjet process that works at speeds of up to 3m/sec. This will radically change the
way modules are produced by reducing complexity and cost of manufacture. The sales target for this new process is
>$10m per annum with attractive ongoing sales of specialist inks. The primary objective is to develop the OSI process and
materials for semi-transparent perovskite for Building Integrated PV glazing applications, a very promising market. The
secondary and tertiary objectives are to develop the process and materials for CIGS and CZTS, respectively.
poised for explosive growth to reach 49GW in 2014, and is forecast to reach up to 100GW by 2018. This end-market
growth is projected to increase annual PV module revenues, which are forecast to reach US$50 billion in 2018. Despite
being severely hampered by overcapacity and declining operating margins during 2012 and 2013, the PV industry still grew
34% over this two-year period. Thin film PV has approximately a 10% market share and has inherent cost advantages,
especially in the development of utility scale installations. As part of the manufacturing process, it is necessary to
interconnect gridded areas of the PV module to form long series connected PV regions. In this project, the interconnect will
be achieved using a new laser ablation/inkjet process that works at speeds of up to 3m/sec. This will radically change the
way modules are produced by reducing complexity and cost of manufacture. The sales target for this new process is
>$10m per annum with attractive ongoing sales of specialist inks. The primary objective is to develop the OSI process and
materials for semi-transparent perovskite for Building Integrated PV glazing applications, a very promising market. The
secondary and tertiary objectives are to develop the process and materials for CIGS and CZTS, respectively.
Planned Impact
The immediate beneficiaries will be the collaborators. M-solv has a proven track record of supplying sophisticated laser
machines for industrial production in Asia and functional inkjet machines for R&D/pilot production. It is well connected to
the PV industry and well placed to market machines. CREST is a major UK centre for PV research. CREST has world class
facilities for thin film deposition, materials characterisation, performance testing and environmental durability. Crucially for
testing laser ablation processes, the magnetron sputtering tools at CREST can create the various thickness of layers used
in thin film fabrication by the various module manufacturers. Intrinsiq develops inks using nano-particles produced in a
unique vacuum deposition process. The development of OSI for use with transparent inks will aid Oxford Photovoltaics
Ltd to use perovskite PV for power producing glazing products. The project has a range of wider beneficiaries because
lower cost renewable energy has clear environmental benefits reducing carbon emissions. This project will create more
than 20 new "green jobs" in the industrial partners.
M-Solv has 5 published patents on OSI with four already granted. Intrinsiq and Oxford Photovoltaics also have strong
patent portfolios. M-solv and Loughborough have presented three papers at the IEEE PVSC conferences in the USA in
June 2013 and 2014 attracting interest from all the major thin from module manufacturers (CdTe, GIGS and a-Si). M-solv
was awarded the 'SOLAR' award for process innovation for 2013. The commercial exploitation is the responsibility of the
three industrial partners. MSolv will market their OSI process to the thin film photovoltaics manufacturing sector and
Intrinsiq will market its inks to M-solv customers thereby creating a UK based supply chain. The OSI process will enable
Oxford Photovoltaics to demonstrate their perovskite PV at module level. CREST will assist this through its worldwide
network of contacts in the solar module in the solar module industry.
machines for industrial production in Asia and functional inkjet machines for R&D/pilot production. It is well connected to
the PV industry and well placed to market machines. CREST is a major UK centre for PV research. CREST has world class
facilities for thin film deposition, materials characterisation, performance testing and environmental durability. Crucially for
testing laser ablation processes, the magnetron sputtering tools at CREST can create the various thickness of layers used
in thin film fabrication by the various module manufacturers. Intrinsiq develops inks using nano-particles produced in a
unique vacuum deposition process. The development of OSI for use with transparent inks will aid Oxford Photovoltaics
Ltd to use perovskite PV for power producing glazing products. The project has a range of wider beneficiaries because
lower cost renewable energy has clear environmental benefits reducing carbon emissions. This project will create more
than 20 new "green jobs" in the industrial partners.
M-Solv has 5 published patents on OSI with four already granted. Intrinsiq and Oxford Photovoltaics also have strong
patent portfolios. M-solv and Loughborough have presented three papers at the IEEE PVSC conferences in the USA in
June 2013 and 2014 attracting interest from all the major thin from module manufacturers (CdTe, GIGS and a-Si). M-solv
was awarded the 'SOLAR' award for process innovation for 2013. The commercial exploitation is the responsibility of the
three industrial partners. MSolv will market their OSI process to the thin film photovoltaics manufacturing sector and
Intrinsiq will market its inks to M-solv customers thereby creating a UK based supply chain. The OSI process will enable
Oxford Photovoltaics to demonstrate their perovskite PV at module level. CREST will assist this through its worldwide
network of contacts in the solar module in the solar module industry.
Publications
Womack G
(2017)
Optical optimization of high resistance transparent layers in thin film cadmium telluride solar cells
in Vacuum
Womack G
(2017)
Performance and durability of broadband antireflection coatings for thin film CdTe solar cells
in Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films
Wolden C
(2016)
The roles of ZnTe buffer layers on CdTe solar cell performance
in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Ulicná S
(2017)
Development of ZnTe as a back contact material for thin film cadmium telluride solar cells
in Vacuum
Swanson D
(2018)
CdCl2 passivation of polycrystalline CdMgTe and CdZnTe absorbers for tandem photovoltaic cells
in Journal of Applied Physics
Shimpi T
(2018)
CdS barrier to minimize Zn loss during CdCl2 treatment of Cd-Zn-Te absorbers
in Solar Energy
Shimpi T
(2016)
Effect of the cadmium chloride treatment on RF sputtered Cd0.6Zn0.4Te films for application in multijunction solar cells
in Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films
Samoilenko Y
(2018)
Copper-induced recrystallization and interdiffusion of CdTe/ZnTe thin films
in Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films
Description | Ways to accurately align laser ablation and inkjet tools. Formulation of conducting and insulating inks with long life performance Successful integration of laser ablation and inkjet printing. |
Exploitation Route | M-solv Ltd are commercialising the OSI process. Dyecotec Ltd are supplying inks. Oxford Photovoltaics Ltd are using the OSI process to interconnect their R&D modules. |
Sectors | Energy |
Description | M-solv have received orders for OSI systems. |
First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
Sector | Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | Member of the Ion and Plasma Surface Interactions committee of the Institute of Physics |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | Promotion of thin films and plasmas to improve industrial manufacturing processes |
Description | A National Thin-Film Cluster Facility for Advanced Functional Materials |
Amount | £460,998 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/M022900/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 07/2015 |
End | 08/2020 |
Description | organic-inorganic perovskite hybrid tandem solar cells |
Amount | £696,405 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/M024881/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2015 |
End | 04/2018 |
Description | Development of inorganic thin film photovolaics |
Organisation | U.S. Department of Energy |
Department | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Joint research on solution based deposition of CIGS thin film Photovoltaics. Collaboration to understand the performance of single crystal CdTe PV devices. |
Collaborator Contribution | Production of single crystal devices. TRPL and confocal PL analysis. |
Impact | 3 Publications, 2 joint Conference papers in 2016. |
Start Year | 2012 |
Description | Low cost solution processed solar cells using CIGS nanoparticles |
Organisation | Nanoco |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Assessment of performance of thin film CIGS PV devices. Process development on rigid and flexible substrates. HRTEM characterisation. |
Collaborator Contribution | Fabrication of CIGS PV devices using nanoparticles |
Impact | Joint paper at the 2016 IEEE PVSC conference |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | NSF Industry/University Co-operative Research Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics |
Organisation | Colorado State University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The consortium is engaged in increasing the efficiency and lowering the cost of thin film CdTe photovoltaics. We are producing thin films, complete devices and characterisation using HRTEM. |
Collaborator Contribution | The other partners are Colorado State University, University of Texas at Austin, First Solar Inc, 5N Plus, Direct Solar LLC, Ion Edge Corporation, NREL and MBI corporation. ECh partner is engaged in developing materials or devices. |
Impact | 8 Publications |
Start Year | 2010 |
Description | National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
Organisation | U.S. Department of Energy |
Department | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) |
Country | United States |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): NREL is a world leading Research Institution for Renewable Energy. NREL has hosted Nayia Arnou, Sona Ulcina and Luis Infante-Ortego (research students) from CREST for 3 month secondments. The visit by Sona Ulcina led to the development a 17.2% efficient perovskite solar cell using an atmospheric spray process. Several joint publications. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr Tim Silverman, a senior scientist at NREL is currently on secondment to CREST for 1 year working on degradation mechanisms in silicon modules. |
Impact | Publications |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | OSI-One Step Interconnect for Thin Film PV Modules |
Organisation | M-Solv |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Providing devices for testing the interconnect process. Evaluating the performance and durability of the Interconnects. |
Collaborator Contribution | Using laser ablation and inkjet printing to interconnect PV cells in a PV module |
Impact | 3 Publications. M-solv are close to commercialising the OSI process. Our industrial partners are Oxford Photovoltaics Ltd and Dycotec Ltd. |
Start Year | 2009 |
Title | IMPROVEMENTS TO THE DEPOSITION AND FORMATION OF COATINGS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS |
Description | The invention relates to the formation of a photovoltaic or solar cell device and in particular to a coating formed on a surface of the same. The device incorporates a substrate formed by a glass base on which there is provided a transparent conductive coating (TCO). Onto a surface of the substrate or this coating there is, in accordance with the invention in one embodiment, sputter deposited a layer of CdS followed by the sputter deposition of a layer including CdTe. A back contact layer can be applied as a final layer. The CdS layer acts as the n-type layer while the CdTe containing layer acts as the p-type layer of the device. The cross section of the photovoltaic cell, and the layers provided, can be altered to suit specific requirements. For example, a buffer layer of Sn02 or ZnO can be applied onto the TCO prior to the CdS coating to improve device performance. |
IP Reference | WO2018083480 |
Protection | Patent application published |
Year Protection Granted | 2018 |
Licensed | No |
Impact | New method to deposit solar cells |
Description | Advances in Photovoltaics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Meeting on 'Advances in Photovoltaics' held at the Institute of Physics. SuperSolar event with 70 attendees. International invited speakers. Organiser and Chairman |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Appearance on Radio Wiltshire |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interview describing the work and success of the EPSRC Supergen SuperSolar Hub |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Feature on Radio 4 Tonight programme. 13th February 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Radio 4 feature on latest developments in Solar |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Member of the Energy commitee of the Institute of Physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Energy committee of the IOP organises events of interest to the scientific and engineering community concerned with Enery generation and use. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018,2019 |
Description | Member of the IEEE EDS Technical Committee on Photovoltaic devices. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The IEEE EDS Technical Committee on Photovoltaic devices.is an International body concerned with standards for photovoltaic (solar panel) modules. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Member of the Ion and Plasma Surface Interactions Group commitee of the Institute of Physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The commitee organises events for academia and industry including the annual 'Advances in Photovoltaics' meeting at the IOP. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Member of the Solar Commision |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Solar Commision has been formed to identify R&D prioriries for solar to stimulate further deployment |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |