SBIR Phase I: Ultrahigh Throughput Black Solar Wafer NanoManufacturing for Photovoltaic Energy Application

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop and deliver a high-throughput low-cost nanomanufacturing technology for making high-density high-uniformity omnidirectional-antireflection nanostructures on the entire surface of single crystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar wafers. Currently the optical reflection from solar cell surface is accounted for a significant loss in the photoelectric energy conversion process and thus better solar wafers with nearly zero optical reflection across a broad range of incident light wavelengths and angles will help to considerably improve the performance of solar cell devices and potentially bring down the solar electricity cost. The silicon nanostructures created by this unique processing method on solar wafer surface developed in this project will have superior antireflection and light trapping property. In this project the solar industry compatible nanomanufacturing method for zero-reflection ?Omni Black? solar wafers will be developed and the underlying processing physical mechanism will be better understood and controlled. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to provide improved product and manufacturing technology for the solar industry and bring nanotechnology inventions from university laboratory to the commercial applications in industrial productions of high-performance solar cells. The proposed nanomanufacturing technology is a large-scale batch nanofabrication process, can be scaled up to simultaneous productions of a large quantity of solar wafers with nanostructured surface at industrial standard high production rate, and may be readily translated into current solar cell manufacturing industry in U.S. Cheaper and yet high-performance solar panels can be produced with the adoption of the advanced nanoscale manufacturing technology to be developed in this project, which makes the photovoltaic energy cost in U.S. more affordable and competitive. The efforts combining nanotechnology and renewable energy in this project will also be able to potentially create new manufacturing jobs in U.S. by translating new industrial production technology inventions from laboratory to factory.