SBIR Phase II: Development of a Continuous Doping and Feeding System for Controlling the Resistivity of Floating Silicon Method Silicon Wafers

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响潜力是改善全球太阳能电池板制造。迄今为止，传统的太阳能电池板制造技术仍然很昂贵，但市场估计有400亿美元，提供了巨大的潜力。拟议中的技术将在工业规模上简化制造过程。它将使太阳能制造成本降低25%，太阳能制造的总体资本密集度降低近50%。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目使单晶晶圆制造技术的商业试点成为可能。这项新技术可以一步生产太阳能电池板用的嵌入式硅晶圆，比现有的七步晶圆技术成本低50%。该项目将把目前的生产能力从每批几片晶圆扩展到符合工业用途的连续生产。任务包括开发子系统，以连续地向机器中输入原始硅原料，并将材料性能控制到长期生产运行的关键规格。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is improved global solar panel manufacturing. To date, conventional solar panel manufacturing technologies are still expensive, but the market, estimated at $40 B, offers significant potential. The proposed technology will simplify the manufacturing process at industrial scales. It will reduce all-in solar manufacturing costs by 25% and the overall capital intensity of solar manufacturing by almost 50%. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project enables a commercial pilot of a single crystal wafer manufacturing technology. This novel technology can produce drop-in silicon wafers for solar panels in one step at 50% lower cost than the incumbent seven-step wafer technology. The project will extend the current production capabilities from a few wafers per batch into continuous production consistent with industrial use. Tasks include developing the subsystems to continuously feed raw silicon feedstock into the machine and controlling material properties to critical specifications for long production runs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.