SBIR Phase I: Low Damage Sputter Magnetron for Silicon Heterojunction PV Production

SBIR 第一阶段：用于硅异质结光伏生产的低损伤溅射磁控管

• 批准号: 1648580
• 负责人: Robert Weiss
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: Malachite Technologies
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-15 至 2017-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1648580&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Low; Damage; Sputter

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be seen in the adoption of solar energy as a cost-competitive alternative to non-renewable energy sources. While solar energy costs have been dramatically reduced, the use of the most efficient cells is limited by manufacturing costs. The need for efficient cells - solar cells that deliver more watts per area - can be seen when considering system costs. Higher efficiency reduces all costs related to area: module components, support structures, labor, land, etc. Silicon Heterojunctions (SHJ) cells deliver leading conversion efficiencies but are manufactured with processes that require multiple passes through very expensive machines to deposit required semiconductor layers. The manufacturing cost issue has hindered adoption of the high efficiency SHJ cell technology. The project's innovation dramatically reduces the cost of the most expensive steps in SHJ cell manufacture while maintaining or improving cell performance. Potentially, the innovation could find application in other markets such as organic light emitting diodes (LEDs). The cost reduction of the SHJ cell will significantly shift the photovoltaic industry's energy conversion efficiency upward and the cost per watt downward.The proposed project addresses two shortcomings of the established manufacturing methods for SHJ solar cells. The first challenge is the deposition of the cell's transparent conductive layer, typically an alloy called indium tin oxide (ITO). Standard sputter processes used for this deposition cause damage to the underlying layers of the cell. The damage can reduce the cell performance or require additional process steps. Also, next generation concepts for SHJ cell design are even more sensitive to damage and less able to tolerate "repair" steps. The project will develop a novel low damage sputter source for the ITO deposition. The second challenge is that the semiconductor layers of the SHJ cell use costly plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) systems developed for the high value display industry. The project will direct use of the novel sputter source for deposition of the semiconductor layers as well as the ITO. Sputter is lower cost than PECVD and easily allows sequential layers of different materials to be deposited in a single, continuous flow, in-line machine. The project will demonstrate the sputter source for each of the layers as separate materials and for an SHJ cell with a fully sputtered stack of the three critical layers.

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将被视为采用太阳能作为一种具有成本竞争力的替代不可再生能源。虽然太阳能成本已大幅降低，但最高效电池的使用受到制造成本的限制。在考虑系统成本时，可以看出对高效电池的需求-每面积提供更多瓦特的太阳能电池。更高的效率降低了与面积相关的所有成本：模块组件、支撑结构、劳动力、土地等。硅异质结（SHJ）电池提供领先的转换效率，但其制造工艺需要多次通过非常昂贵的机器来存款所需的半导体层。制造成本问题阻碍了高效SHJ电池技术的采用。该项目的创新大大降低了SHJ电池制造中最昂贵步骤的成本，同时保持或提高了电池性能。这项创新可能会应用于其他市场，如有机发光二极管（LED）。SHJ电池的成本降低将显著提高光伏产业的能量转换效率，降低每瓦成本。该项目解决了现有SHJ太阳能电池制造方法的两个缺点。第一个挑战是电池透明导电层的沉积，通常是一种称为氧化铟锡（ITO）的合金。用于该沉积的标准溅射工艺对电池的下层造成损坏。损坏会降低电池性能或需要额外的工艺步骤。此外，下一代SHJ电池设计概念对损坏更加敏感，更不能容忍“修复”步骤。本计画将开发一种新颖的低损伤溅镀源，以供ITO沉积之用。第二个挑战是SHJ电池的半导体层使用为高价值显示器行业开发的昂贵的等离子体增强化学气相沉积（PECVD）系统。该项目将直接使用新型溅射源沉积半导体层以及ITO。溅射比PECVD成本更低，并且容易允许在单个连续流动的在线机器中沉积不同材料的顺序层。该项目将展示作为单独材料的每一层的溅射源，以及具有三个关键层的完全溅射堆叠的SHJ电池。