NOVA-Cell - Non Vacuum deposition & metallisation of CIGS solar cells
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Institute for Materials Discovery
Abstract
NOVA-Cell will exploit the potential of chalcogenide-based thin film photovoltaics technology for the development and scale up of new processes for the production of low cost efficient solar cells compatible with mass production. Current state of the art thin film PV technology is dominated by cadmium-tellurim (CdTe), amorphous silica (a-Si) and copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) solar cells. The application and commercialisation of CdTe is limited due to the presence of toxic cadmium and the scarcity of high-cost tellurium. Amorphous silicon thin film is the most mature of thin film
technologies, suggesting that efficiency gains will be merely incremental. Commercially available CIGS cells are manufactured using physical vapor deposition (PVD) and screen printing of Ag pastes. PVD exhibits limited uniformity of deposition across large areas, requires expensive vacuum based capital equipment and exhibits process drift as the PVD targets are eroded. Conventional screen printing techniques limit the resolution of electrode printing, and silver pastes are typically 2-3 x the price of nano-Cu and subject to considerable price volatility due to the commodity trading of silver. NOVA-Cell's main objective is to explore and evaluate the technical feasibility of novel methods for the manufacture of CIGS thin film solar cells. The methods that will be addressed include the deposition of CIGS solar cells via a novel nonvacuum
technology (CASVD) with high-efficiency at low cost, and the deposition of nano copper metallic electrode structures using high-resolution printing technology (ESJET) to reduce cell cost/Watt by 10.6%, and to reduce shading losses (representing a 0.6% cell efficiency gain).
Our approach will be:
(1) to optimise the CIGS absorber material by controlling ratio of its components to obtain the desired chemical composition;
(2) to optimise the CIGS structural properties through control of the deposition rate and temperature;
(3) to conduct a robust design of experiments to optimise the intermediate selenisation step for increased absorbance of the solar cell, including the selenium pressure, the temperature and the selenisation time; (4) to conduct transmission line model deposition measurements to modify the contact and sheet resistance of the ESJET deposited Cu metalisation;
(5) to deposit Cu electrode structures onto CIGS;
(6) to conduct initial efficiency and accelerated lifetime measurements.
The work programme is detailed in Appendix B and is summarised below: WP1: Management [M1-M12, PVI], WP2:
Exploitation and Dissemination [M1-M12, PVI], WP3 CSAVD CIGS deposition [M2-M11, UCL], WP4: ESJET Cu metallisation study [M2-M11, PVI] WP5: Cell Testing and accelerated lifetime measurements [M6-M12, UCL].
technologies, suggesting that efficiency gains will be merely incremental. Commercially available CIGS cells are manufactured using physical vapor deposition (PVD) and screen printing of Ag pastes. PVD exhibits limited uniformity of deposition across large areas, requires expensive vacuum based capital equipment and exhibits process drift as the PVD targets are eroded. Conventional screen printing techniques limit the resolution of electrode printing, and silver pastes are typically 2-3 x the price of nano-Cu and subject to considerable price volatility due to the commodity trading of silver. NOVA-Cell's main objective is to explore and evaluate the technical feasibility of novel methods for the manufacture of CIGS thin film solar cells. The methods that will be addressed include the deposition of CIGS solar cells via a novel nonvacuum
technology (CASVD) with high-efficiency at low cost, and the deposition of nano copper metallic electrode structures using high-resolution printing technology (ESJET) to reduce cell cost/Watt by 10.6%, and to reduce shading losses (representing a 0.6% cell efficiency gain).
Our approach will be:
(1) to optimise the CIGS absorber material by controlling ratio of its components to obtain the desired chemical composition;
(2) to optimise the CIGS structural properties through control of the deposition rate and temperature;
(3) to conduct a robust design of experiments to optimise the intermediate selenisation step for increased absorbance of the solar cell, including the selenium pressure, the temperature and the selenisation time; (4) to conduct transmission line model deposition measurements to modify the contact and sheet resistance of the ESJET deposited Cu metalisation;
(5) to deposit Cu electrode structures onto CIGS;
(6) to conduct initial efficiency and accelerated lifetime measurements.
The work programme is detailed in Appendix B and is summarised below: WP1: Management [M1-M12, PVI], WP2:
Exploitation and Dissemination [M1-M12, PVI], WP3 CSAVD CIGS deposition [M2-M11, UCL], WP4: ESJET Cu metallisation study [M2-M11, PVI] WP5: Cell Testing and accelerated lifetime measurements [M6-M12, UCL].
Planned Impact
The NOVA-Cell project will contribute to a significant breakthrough in the competitiveness of thin film PV technologies developed at small area lab scale by the optimisation of materials and also the transference towards industrial scale-up and
exploitation. The main objective of the NOVA-cell business project is to reduce the cost/Watt of CIGS solar cells by combining the application of non-vacuum CSAVD (to increase the CIGS deposition rate), with the use of novel high resolution ESJET printing of cost effective copper electrode structures.
Innovate UK funding will act as a catalyst, bringing the key knowledge holders together and enabling the consortium to effectively bridge the commercial 'Valley of Death' and bring the IP developed by the partners to the market as quickly as possible whilst reducing the financial risks. Innovate UK funding will allow us to exploit our intellectual capital relating to CSAVD deposition (developed by Choy, now at UCL) and high resolution ESJET printing (developed by PVI). Without this funding there is a real possibility that the commercial benefits resulting from the exploitation would be realised over much longer timescales and that non-UK technologies are developed first.
The technical feasibility of the project will demonstrate the viability of the proposed technology going forward and, further investment will be needed to bring the technology to the market. This will result in further spend within the partnership, and
within the UK in both technology areas (CSAVD and ESJET). This additional R&D spend extends far beyond the initial funds contained within this grant. Once the overall viability has been proven, the technology development and associated scale-up programmes should generate several million of additional R&D within the UK. Furthermore, several potential project ideas have already been generated by working on the proposal together and this is likely to lead to related research topics supported by both partners.
Need for a UK approach:
Achievement of the objectives requires for the development of a collaborative action at industry and university bilateral cooperative programs. The use of a UK approach allows to take profit of the strong background and competences available
at both groups, and exploiting their complementarities for the consolidation of a competitive PV industry.
The technical feasibility of the project will demonstrate the viability of the proposed technology going forward, and significantly, further investment will be needed to bring the technology to the market. This will result in further spend within the partnership and the UK in both technology areas (CSAVD and ESJET). This additional R&D spend extends far beyond the initial funds contained within this grant. Once the overall viability has been proven, the technology development and associated scale-up programmes should generate several million of additional R&D within the UK. Achievement of the objectives requires for the development of a collaborative action at industry and university bilateral cooperative programs. The use of a UK approach allows to take profit of the strong background and competences available at both groups, and exploiting their complementarities for the consolidation of a competitive PV industry.
exploitation. The main objective of the NOVA-cell business project is to reduce the cost/Watt of CIGS solar cells by combining the application of non-vacuum CSAVD (to increase the CIGS deposition rate), with the use of novel high resolution ESJET printing of cost effective copper electrode structures.
Innovate UK funding will act as a catalyst, bringing the key knowledge holders together and enabling the consortium to effectively bridge the commercial 'Valley of Death' and bring the IP developed by the partners to the market as quickly as possible whilst reducing the financial risks. Innovate UK funding will allow us to exploit our intellectual capital relating to CSAVD deposition (developed by Choy, now at UCL) and high resolution ESJET printing (developed by PVI). Without this funding there is a real possibility that the commercial benefits resulting from the exploitation would be realised over much longer timescales and that non-UK technologies are developed first.
The technical feasibility of the project will demonstrate the viability of the proposed technology going forward and, further investment will be needed to bring the technology to the market. This will result in further spend within the partnership, and
within the UK in both technology areas (CSAVD and ESJET). This additional R&D spend extends far beyond the initial funds contained within this grant. Once the overall viability has been proven, the technology development and associated scale-up programmes should generate several million of additional R&D within the UK. Furthermore, several potential project ideas have already been generated by working on the proposal together and this is likely to lead to related research topics supported by both partners.
Need for a UK approach:
Achievement of the objectives requires for the development of a collaborative action at industry and university bilateral cooperative programs. The use of a UK approach allows to take profit of the strong background and competences available
at both groups, and exploiting their complementarities for the consolidation of a competitive PV industry.
The technical feasibility of the project will demonstrate the viability of the proposed technology going forward, and significantly, further investment will be needed to bring the technology to the market. This will result in further spend within the partnership and the UK in both technology areas (CSAVD and ESJET). This additional R&D spend extends far beyond the initial funds contained within this grant. Once the overall viability has been proven, the technology development and associated scale-up programmes should generate several million of additional R&D within the UK. Achievement of the objectives requires for the development of a collaborative action at industry and university bilateral cooperative programs. The use of a UK approach allows to take profit of the strong background and competences available at both groups, and exploiting their complementarities for the consolidation of a competitive PV industry.
People |
ORCID iD |
Kwang-Leong Choy (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Nazligul A
(2020)
Recent Development in Earth-Abundant Kesterite Materials and Their Applications
in Sustainability
Forth L
(2019)
Sensitive X-ray Detectors Synthesised from CsPbBr 3
Sun W
(2019)
The Role of Thickness Control and Interface Modification in Assembling Efficient Planar Perovskite Solar Cells.
in Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
Description | The use of non vacuum and scaleable chemical spray assisted vapour deposition based method (e.g. ESAVD) to produce CIGS absorbers and the associated solar cells with conversion efficiency (>10%) has been demonstrated. A fully non vacuum processed CIGS thin film solar cell (Glass/Mo/CIGS/CdS/i-ZnO/nanostructured TCO)has been demonstrated with efficiency above 14%. The output of this project has also led to the H2020 High-Accuracy project (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/862410). |
Exploitation Route | To work closely with solar cell manufacturers to scale up the process for technology exploitation, adoption and implementation. The outcomes of this funding has supported the further exploitation of the technology for printed electronics down to µm size, for Organic Large Area Electronics (OLAE) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) and Display Applications and led to the H2020 funding for the High-Accuracy project https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/862410). |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Energy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy,Transport |
Description | PVI company would like to exploit the thin film technology developed by Prof. Choy together with their ESJET technology for the non vacuum manufacturing of thin film devices, and invited UCL to successfully applied for the joint H2020 High-Accuracy project to support further exploitation of the technology for printed electronics down to µm size, for Organic Large Area Electronics (OLAE) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) and Display Applications (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/862410). The thin film technology is also being applied for a new EU project on next generation electrochemical system for sustainable direct CO2 capture and utilization/storage as clean solar fuel. |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Security and Diplomacy,Transport,Other |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | ERANET ACT 3: Accelerating CCUS Technologies |
Amount | € 2,800,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 5975830 |
Organisation | Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2021 |
End | 09/2024 |
Description | H2020 Sedna |
Amount | € 6,500,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 723526 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 05/2017 |
End | 04/2020 |
Description | HIGH-PROSPECTS |
Amount | £1,245,338 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 102470 |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2016 |
End | 10/2018 |
Description | High-ACCuracy printed electronics down to µm size, for Organic Large Area Electronics (OLAE) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) and Display Applications. |
Amount | € 5,931,888 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 862410 |
Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 04/2020 |
End | 10/2023 |
Description | Marketplace |
Amount | € 8,147,525 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 760173 |
Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 01/2018 |
End | 12/2022 |
Description | Multifunctional coatings |
Amount | £106,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2018 |
End | 09/2021 |
Title | A novel deposition method applicable for biomedical applications. |
Description | A novel method and tooling for depositing functional layers for dialysers for the effective removal of toxin including protein bound toxin. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | An innovative and cost-effective method for the removal of protein bound toxin during dialysis. |
Description | Nanocomposite coatings for engineering applications |
Organisation | Cytec Industries |
Department | R&D |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The development of robust and cost-effective multifunctional nanocomposite coatings for automotive applications. |
Collaborator Contribution | *Formulated coating precursor *Established the window of processing conditions for multifunctional coatings *Successfully fabricated and tested the robust multifunctional nanocomposite coatings which fulflling the requirements of industrial partners |
Impact | The has led to H2020 project submission in 2019 for the industrial scale up and pilot project. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Thin film solar cells. |
Organisation | Crystalsol |
Country | Austria |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Non vacuum low cost thin film deposition technology for the fabrication of high performance CIGS and CZTS solar cells. |
Collaborator Contribution | Solar cells module testing and evaluation. |
Impact | A joint grant application to H2020. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Thin films and Nanocomposites for structural and functional applications. |
Organisation | William Blythe Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Materials formulation, functionalisation and applications with end-users. |
Collaborator Contribution | Materials supplier within the value chain. |
Impact | Multidisciplinary collaboration. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Title | Medical device -dialyser |
Description | Received Therapeutic Acceleration Support (TAS) Fund of £74840 to perform a proof of concept of novel and high performance coated haemodialysis dialysers designed to adsorb uraemic toxins. |
Type | Therapeutic Intervention - Medical Devices |
Current Stage Of Development | Initial development |
Year Development Stage Completed | 2019 |
Development Status | Under active development/distribution |
Impact | The novel coated dialyser has generated interests from 3 international dialyser manufacturers that wish to collaborate with us and evaluate our coated dialysers. |
Description | 2020 The 10th International Conference on Key Engineering Materials |
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 | The purpose of The 10th International Conference on Key Engineering Materials (ICKEM 2020) is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the whole range of fields related to the materials that underpin modern technologies |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.buildup.eu/en/events/10th-international-conference-key-engineering-materials-ickem-2020 |
Description | 2nd International Conference and Expo on Ceramics and Composite Materials Berlin, Germany July 25-26, 2016 |
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 | The keynote paper was well received which has led to wider collaborations and join grant applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | 5th International Conf. on Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (ICAMM) 2021, Macau, China, Nov. 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | ICAMM 2021 focuses on the advanced manufacturing and materials research. The applications of advanced manufacturing and materials to such domains as Multi-scale and/or Multi-disciplinary Approaches, |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=127270©ownerid=13881 |
Description | BIT's 6th Annual New Energy Forum (NEF-2016), South Korea |
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 | Wider international collaborations with collaborators from Far East, leading to Newton Fund applications as well as brader industrial engagements. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Innovation in materials design and processes for delivering high performance nanostructured films and nanocomposite coatings, International Conference on Nanomaterials and Biomaterials (ICNB 2017) 11-13 December 2017 in Amsterdam |
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 | The study of all materials requires a multi-tool approach to analysing and characterising the material as well as its interactions and function. It is by using these orthogonal approaches that the best discoveries are made and data turns into knowledge for the benefit of the science. ICNB 2017 would bring together researchers from academia and industry with practitioners in materials characterisation, including instrument manufacturers and developers, to open dialogues about new approaches and technological innovation in the field of Nanomaterials and Biomaterials. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.icnb.org/ |
Description | Invited talk on "High Performance Nanostructured Coatings and their Applications" at XXVII Materials Research Congress, Cancun, Mexico, August 2018 |
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 | A core mission of the Materials Research Society is to promote leading-edge research on materials around the world. The Materials Research Society (MRS) and the Sociedad Mexicana de Materiales (SMM) worked together on this global effort by growing the International Materials Research Congress (IMRC) held annually in Cancun, Mexico. The IMRC offered a range of symposium topics of interest to the materials research community at large. It has become a popular conference destination with about 1,700 attendees from nearly 60 countries in 2018. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.mrs-mexico.org.mx/imrc2018/ |
Description | Keynote paper at 21st International Conference on Advances in Materials & Processing Technologies, Dublin, Ireland, 4th -7th September 2018 |
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 | The AMPT conference series provides a forum for academics, researchers, and practicing engineers to meet and exchange innovative ideas and information on all aspects of material processing technologies |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://ampt2018.org/ |
Description | Materials Hub Launch Event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The event has led to wider engagements with academic and industry sectors, resulted in new successful joint grant applications to Innovate UK and European Commission. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Rushlight show |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Event to showcase and exhibit our research outputs, which generated discussion and potential industrial collaboration and joint grant applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | The 7th Annual World Congress of Nano Science & Technology-2017 |
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 | The 7th Annual World Congress of Nano Science and Technology-2017 (Nano S&T-2017) was held in Japan during October 24-26, 2017. It covers all frontier topics in advanced nanomaterials, nanoelectronics, applications of nanotechnology, nanomedicine and biomaterials, etc. The aim of the conference was to bring together leading scientists, researchers, engineers, practitioners, technology developers and policy makers from multidisciplinary research and application areas to exchange information on their latest research progress and innovation, to discuss the benefits of Nanotechnology and materials science in their research and development efforts to advance the networking, and collaborating between different academia, research and market leaders in the field. Participants from the top international academic, government and private industry labs of different disciplines participated in Nano S&t-2017 to identify new technology trends, development tools, R&D collaborations, and commercialization partners. It provided an unprecedented opportunity and effective platform for institutions and industries to share ideas and discover innovation in the area of nanotechnology and develop new business opportunities. 400+ Oral Presentations Covering the Hot Topics and Cutting-Edge Technology in the Field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and 50+ Posters Demonstrating. There were expressions of interests in the work of Professor Choy's group in using nanocomposite coating for high voltage dielectric breakdown as well as wider structural and functional applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.bitcongress.com/nano2017/RenownedSpeakers.asp |
Description | The IUMRS-ICEM 2016 conference, Singapore, 04 to 08 July, 2016 |
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 | The invited talk has led to wider international collaborations and overseas students wishing to pursue PhD research at UCL. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Workshop on printable window and contact layers for thin film solar cells, 6th of June 2016 in Vienna. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This has resulted in new research collaboration with Crystalsol and joint grant application to H2020. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |