SBIR Phase I: Low-cost Domestic Additive Manufacturing for Silicon Solar Cells

SBIR第一期：硅太阳能电池的低成本国产增材制造

• 批准号: 2212740
• 负责人: David Berney Needleman
• 金额: $ 25.59万
• 依托单位: LEAP PHOTOVOLTAICS INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-15 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2212740&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Low; cost; Domestic

The broader impact/commercial potential of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to demonstrate the feasibility of producing high-efficiency, low-cost, crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar cells without using silicon wafers. For the first time, additive manufacturing processes will be applied to silicon in order to produce equivalent performance to silicon wafers without the wasteful processes used in current manufacturing. If successful, this additive approach can link the parts of the solar supply chain that still exist in the United States—silicon refining and solar module assembly, establishing a full domestic supply chain for this critical energy technology. This supply chain can: (a) be built with off-the-shelf equipment at a third the cost of building traditional silicon wafer and cell factories, (b) cut the cost of photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing in half compared to imported silicon wafer-based solar cells, and (c) reduce energy consumption in solar cell manufacturing by 70% and reduce water consumption by 90%. This combination of low factory and production costs can drive the growth needed in the solar industry to support the nation’s decarbonization goals while creating tens of thousands of domestic jobs.This SBIR Phase I project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel architecture and additive manufacturing process for crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar cells that provide equivalent performance to traditional silicon wafer-based solar cells at lower cost with a local supply chain. The steps in the process flow are adapted from traditional solar cell processing or adjacent industries like microelectronics, but they are being combined in new way to realize this solar cell design. These steps will be co-optimized to produce high-efficiency cells using a series of designed experiments. These processes typically fall into three categories: (1) chemical or physical vapor deposition, (2) solution-based coating, and (3) thermal annealing, with their own relevant process variables: (a) time, temperature, pressure, gas flow rates, and magnetic power; (b) solvent, solution concentration, coating gap, and coating speed; (c) temperature vs. time. These process variables for each step will be correlated to physical properties of the layers in the cell stack such as thickness, stoichiometry, and performance of the finished cells to produce a prototype with performance that is compelling to investors, partners, and customers.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.

小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是证明生产高效，低成本，晶体硅光伏太阳能电池的可行性，而无需使用硅波。为了在当前制造中使用的浪费过程而没有浪费的过程，将首次应用于硅的增材制造过程。如果成功的话，这种添加剂方法可以将仍然存在的太阳能供应链的各个部分联系起来，即塞利康的炼油和太阳能模块组件，为这项关键的能源技术建立了完整的国内供应链。该供应链可以：（a）用现成的设备以三分之一的成本建造传统的硅晶片和电池工厂的成本，（b）将光伏太阳能电池制造成本降低了一半，而与进口的硅晶体晶体相比，（c）将太阳能电池制造中的能源消耗降低了70％，并将水消耗量降低了90％。低工厂和生产成本的这种结合可以推动太阳能产业所需的增长，以支持美国的脱碳目标，同时创造成千上万的国内就业机会。这个SBIR I期项目旨在证明晶体硅光伏太阳能电池的新型结构和成瘾性制造工艺的可行性，这些太阳能电池可与传统的硅晶体晶体电池相等，并以较低的成本和本地的供应链提供。过程流中的步骤改编自传统的太阳能电池处理或微电子等相邻行业，但它们以新的方式组合来实现这种太阳能电池设计。这些步骤将通过一系列设计的实验合作，以产生高效的细胞。这些过程通常分为三类：（1）化学或物理蒸气沉积，（2）基于溶液的涂层，以及（3）具有其自身相关过程变量的热退火：（a）时间，温度，压力，气流流速和磁力； （b）溶液，溶液浓度，涂料间隙和涂料速度； （c）温度与时间。 These process variables for each step will be correlated to physical properties of the layers in the cell stack such as thickness, stoichiometry, and performance of the finished cells to produce a prototype with performance that is compelling to investors, partners, and customers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed honestly of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.