SBIR Phase I: Continuous Production of Crystalline Silicon Sheet for Solar Cell

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目旨在开发一种设计概念，并证明生产太阳能电池用低成本硅片的连续工艺的可行性。方法是从顶部冷却熔融的硅浴，使其低于熔点，直接从熔融的硅浴中生产出薄薄的硅片。这项技术允许连续生产单晶或高度织构的硅片。将使用液体或固体层来支撑硅并确保其均匀性。该项目的更广泛的商业影响将是大幅降低太阳能电池硅片成本的潜力。如今，硅片的成本约占整个太阳能电池板总成本的45%。这一工艺有望将硅片成本降低40%-65%，从而大大降低太阳能电池发电的每瓦特总成本。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a design concept and demonstrate the feasibility of a continuous process to produce low-cost silicon wafers for solar cells. The approach is to cool a molten bath of silicon from the top to be below its melting point, producing a thin silicon sheet directly from the molten silicon bath. This technique allows the monocrystalline or highly textured silicon sheets to be continuously produced. A liquid or solid layer will be used to support the silicon and ensure uniformity. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to significantly reduce the cost of silicon wafers for solar cells. Today, the cost of silicon wafers is about 45% of the total cost of a complete solar panel. This process is expected to reduce the cost of silicon wafer by 40-65%, and thus, greatly reduce overall cost per watt of electricity generated from solar cells.