The analysis of major thin films tends to underestimate technical risks (despite Table 11.11) and subsequent comments. Risks are pervasive in thin film development, and major setbacks have already occurred. Perhaps the most universal cause is a lack of science base. Because thin films are almost always different from mainstream electronics materials (as opposed to […]

So far, the potential to achieve very low cost has been emphasized. That is critical to making PV cost effective enough to be used economically. But there are other factors to the ‘TW Challenge.’ The main one is materials availability. To have 10-20 TW of PV energy installed by mid century, we need about 50-100 […]

For the commonalities (BOM) among all thin film modules, a set of distinct substrates were chosen: glass, stainless steel, and polyimide. Only those substrates and encapsulation schemes that are already in common use were chosen (e. g., glass/EVA, Tefzel/EVA), and this could be viewed as a limitation of the study (since they are all rather […]

A spreadsheet was developed for the estimated component costs of thin film modules of various types. This was done in two parts – so-called commonalities or BOM of most thin film modules; and the unique aspects of each design, being mostly the semiconductors that convert sunlight to electricity (nonBOM). An initial production level of 25 […]

Almost all thin film PV devices have a great deal in common. They attempt to minimize material costs by using ultrathin semiconductors to convert sunlight to electricity; they attempt to reach adequate sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies; and they require excellent outdoor reliability. In this sense, thin films are a direct response to the high materials costs […]

The idea of thin films is simple: use mostly low cost material (glass, metal, plastic) and very little high cost semiconductor. A micron or so of semiconductor is about 2-6 g/m2; even ultraexpensive material (say, $1000/kg) only costs pennies per watt at this level. This idea has been around as long as PV, but the […]

The world uses about 10 terawatt (TW) of energy (the US, about 3 TW) and by 2050 is projected to need about 30 TW. Thus the world will need about 20 TW of nonCO2 energy to stabilize CO2 in the atmosphere by mid century. For details about non CO2 energy needs for meeting climate change, […]

Ken Zweibel NREL, Golden, CO, USA 11.1 PROLOGUE It is critical to understand what this report purports to do and what it cannot do. It cannot analyze either company or technology specific information about thin film manufacturing. It cannot give any current actual prices, because they depend on volume and varying specifications. Thin film photovoltaic […]