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Multi-megawatt upscaling of silicon and thin film solar cell and module manufacture

Objective



To meet the needs for carbon dioxide reduction in Europe and to meet the energy needs of the Worlds Poorest People large scale photovoltaic manufacturing plants need to be established in Europe. A factory capable of producing 500 Mwp p.a. is considered essential in the 'power for the World' initiative. This is about 100 times larger than the largest PV factory at present in Europe.Many questions must be addressed to realise this scale of manufacture. The chosen technology is silicon based as the major worldwide production technology. A network of 10 major proposers has been assembled to study each step in the high volume manufacture of silicon modules from basic feedstocks to final environmental impact. The study has been broken down into 7 sub-tasks each of which has 3 or 4 contributing proposers with a sub-task leader. Each sub task will review current technology,look at any bottlenecks or materials availability limitations. The study will recommend how each manufacturing step can be performed at the 500 Mwp p.a. level the cost of the necessary equipment and the cost of product. The study will identify unknowns to be resolved by R&D study in the 4th framework programme. The study will look at the effect of scaling to project the final if module costs at 10, 50, 100 and 500 Mwp p.a. throughput. The study will direct the process optimisation necessary to achieve the target for the year 2000 of 1 ECU/module Watt at STC.

Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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Coordinator

BP SOLAR LTD
Address
Chertsey Road
TW167XA Sunbury-on-thames
United Kingdom

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Participants (10)

CENTER FOR SOLAR ENERGY AND HYDROGEN RESEARCH BADEN-WÜRTEMBERG
Germany
Address
Hessbruehlstrasse 21c
70565 Stuttgart

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CRYSTALOX LTD.
United Kingdom
Address
Limborough Road 1
OX12 9AJ Wantage - Oxforshire

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FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.*
Germany
Address
Heidenhofstrasse 2
79110 Freiburg (In Breisgau)

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INTERUNIVERSITAIR MIKRO-ELEKTRONICA CENTRUM VZW
Belgium
Address
75,kapeldreef 75
3001 Heverlee

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Phototronics Solartechnik
Germany
Address
Herman Obert Straße 9
85640 Putzbrunn

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RWE SCHOTT SOLAR GMBH
Germany
Address
Carl-zeiss-strasse 4
63755 Alzenau

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UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID
Spain
Address
Ciudad Universitaria - Etsi Telecomunicacion
28040 Madrid

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UTRECHT UNIVERSITY
Netherlands
Address
14,padualaan 14
3584 CH Utrecht

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Universidade de Lisboa
Portugal
Address
1,campo Grande
1700 Lisboa

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University of Northumbria at Newcastle
United Kingdom
Address
Ellison Place
NE1 8ST Newcastle Upon Tyne

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