Objective
The aim of this project is to develop further CdTe thin film technology and to drive the manufacturing costs for modules towards 1 ECU/Wp. Such cost targets are more easily achievable if the thin film material deposition can be scaled in size from 30 cm x 30 cm up to 60 cm x 120 cm which is an industrial objective. Thus the technical challenge is to develop and optimise large area chemical deposition methods for uniform CdS and-CdTe thin films capable of delivering large area CdTe cells with efficiencies over 8%. This will require an increased fundamental understanding over the CdS/CdTe bulk material and cell properties and correlation of these to the large area deposition parameters. The objectives against the expected achievements are;
- To develop, low cost, chemical methods for the deposition of large area (up to 60 cm x 120cm), uniform, CdS and CdTe thin films with solar conversion efficiencies >8% over the entire area.
- To develop high conductivity fine line printed wires on large area tin oxide coated glass to improve the lack of conductivity for electroplating. - To develop a process for the integration of printed fine line wires on TO/glass with the large area cell interconnection.
- To develop formulation chemistry for the fast electrodeposition of CdTe. - To increase fundamental understanding of materials and cell operation in order to control large area thin film deposition and cell fabrication. Initially conducting fine lines (200æm wide, 60 cm long) on large area tin oxide coated glass, with good precision, will be developed. The synthesis of inks and pastes will be necessary to tailor material properties to suit TO/glass substrate and chemical deposition systems. The fine lines are expected to be alkali solution resistant (or encapsulated) for the CdS CBD process. Subsequently, large area CdTe electrodeposition from an aqueous solution will be optimised. Characterisation of material properties and cell performance is expected to help control deposition and post-deposition annealing parameters for uniform performance; Cell and sub-module stability will be monitored. The summary of the partners in this project are; BP Solar, Europe's leading PV manufacturing company, PHILIPS (CFT) one of Europe's leading centre for manufacturing technologies, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chime Analytique de Paris (ENSCP), world leaders in the chemical bath deposition of II-VI materials, Fraunhofer Institude (ISE) one of the Europe's leading PV institutes, Institut fur Neu Materials (INM) one of Europe's leading research institudes in composit material science and technology, EC's research center at Ispra (JRC), Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Industrielle Forschung (AFIF)-ETH tecnopark, an industrial reseach expert. They are going to join their R&D efforts to develop large area CdS and CdTe thin film deposition methods and cell fabrication technology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry post-transition metals
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology materials engineering amorphous solids
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
TW167XA SUNBURY-ON-THAMES
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.