Solar Light Flashes: December 31, 2007

Select Photovoltaic News Tidbits

In this final Solar Light Flashes of 2007, I need to catch up on accumulated tidbits I’ve collected over the past few months.

Advent Solar, Inc.
If recent events at Miasolé regarding former CEO David Pearce are the precedent (see Former Miasolé Employees Confirm Cuts by Jennifer Kho at Greentech Media), then Advent Solar Appoints Peter Green as new President and CEO, tends to indicate Rusty Schmit’s days with Advent may be numbered despite the claim:

Company founder Rusty Schmit will remain a member of the Board of Directors in an active role focused on strategic initiatives and will be working with Peter to ensure a smooth transition.

This development also lends credence to anonymous rumors the retooling and layoffs are masking process issues.

Blue Square Energy
While I was on my best behavior at the Dow Jones VentureWire Alternative Energy Innovations 2007 conference in Redwood City, California, AlternativeEnergy.com captured this video of Blue Square Energy (BSE) President and CEO Jeff Barnett’s presentation.

Concentrix Solar GmbH
In the under reported Concentrix passes all tests required for starting construction of its 500 kW power plant in Spain (October 2007), the company’s 5.75 kW prototype system passed ISFOC, Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración S.A. or Institute of Concentration Photovoltaics Systems, required qualification tests including draft IEC standard 62108 D8d (now IEC 62108 Ed. 1.0). Construction of the 200 kW Puertollano, Castilla La Mancha – Spain, installation was supposed to begin in early November 2007.

Greentech Media
Greentech Media: Conversations has so far rolled out two of a six part discussion series with Dr. Richard Swanson, co-founder, President, and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of SunPower Corporation. Since the series is sponsored by SunPower and mirrored over at the SunPower website as the Richard Swanson Podcast Series, this series has the appearance of an infomercial. Then again, what photovoltaic company would want to sponsor a series about a competitor? Nonetheless, I am sure these podcasts with Dr. Swanson are worth a listen.

Izusu Glass Co., Ltd.
DigInfo (Digitized Information, Inc.) has a short video about Izusu Glass compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) produced using a glass mold process to reduce manufacturing costs.

Oerlikon Solar
I just noticed this public relations Oerlikon Solar Image Film on the website available via streaming (English, Deutsch) or download. And here is an apparent bootleg video Report on solar energy from CASH-TV in German (Deutsch) aired back on October 7, 2007. Oerlikon Solar is a business segment of OC Oerlikon Corporation AG (VTX:OERL).

REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC
This REC Silicon Groundbreaking video by Grant County EDC showed up on YouTube before Christmas even though the ceremony to mark the construction of the new Solar Grade Silicon manufacturing facility in Moses Lake, Washington USA, was held way back on August 16, 2006.

A few updated photos of the construction are posted on the Grant County Economic Development Council website at REC Silicon Project. Slated to ramp in the second half of 2008, the new plant is based on a proprietary FBR (Fluidized Bed Reactor) process and will add 6500 MT (Metric Tons) of granular Solar Grade Silicon production capacity. REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSL:REC).

Solarvalue AG
The stockings of Solarvalue AG (XETRA:SV7) shareholders were empty this Christmas. No (char)coal, wood chips, quartz, or Solar Grade Silicon (SGS) sample material from a US lab. But did the Solarvalue ÜberBull get high sulfur coal from Santa Claus?

Two series begun in 2007 remain unfinished. I have noticed significant interest in Timminco Limited: O Canada! Solar Grade Silicon, Eh? – Part 1. This is a top priority at the start of 2008, and I have two additional parts planned. There was also supposed to be a Part 3 after Sunways goes its own Silicon ways – Part 2 to cover the Automotive solar segment of Sunways. I have the material but just have not gotten to the write up.

Once again I wish everyone a Happy New Year 2008 and may it be happy and prosperous for us all.

Flawed EMCORE Concentrator PhotoVoltaic System deal with the Pod Generating Group?

The Pod Generating Group plans a risky High Concentration PhotoVoltaic System deployment in Northern Ontario Canada

Within the span of a week, EMCORE Corporation (NASDAQ:EMKR) announced a pair of utility scale High Concentration PhotoVoltaic (HCPV) projects in Canada and South Korea:

EMCORE Corporation enters into an Agreement to supply 60MW of Terrestrial Solar Power Systems in Ontario, Canada
EMCORE Corporation To Supply 20 Megawatts Of Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic Systems in South Korea

On the surface, these seem like celebratory milestone events for Concentrator PhotoVoltaics (CPV). However, HCPV systems require direct solar radiation (irradiance) for operation =at all=. If a cloud passes overhead or the sky is overcast blocking direct sunlight, the HCPV system will not generate electricity.

Three regions in the world have been identified as having the best direct solar resources for HCPV system installations:

Southern Europe (Spain, Italy) and North Africa
Southwestern United States and Mexico
Southern Australia

At the recent ThinkGreen Conference in San Francisco, SolFocus, Inc. CEO Gary Conley expanded upon this view to include the Middle East and India, the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, and the southern region of South America (Chile, Argentina).

And still Sault Saint Marie (The Soo), Ontario, Canada, and South Korea are not among them.

Is EMCORE just trying to buy their way into the Concentrator PhotoVoltaic market with these deals? No financial terms or performance guarantees were disclosed for either deal.

Although EMCORE trumpets their CPV systems as delivering the lowest cost per watt, it does not look as though EMCORE is so sure this Canadian deployment will achieve contractual terms. Per the press release:

EMCORE also has the right to substitute other solar technologies in portions of the projects.

Given the suboptimal direct solar resources available in Canada, cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the proper focus metric not cost per Watt. Objective evaluation of Canadian solar resources and available photovoltaic technologies would result in the selection of traditional crystalline silicon or thin film solar modules as the preferred solution for Sault Saint Marie.

Who is this solar up-start the Pod Generating Group (PGG)? Per The new Pod on the block by David Ehrlich at cleantech.com:

Backed by France's Calyon, Sault Ste. Marie-based Pod Generating is a sister company of Los Angeles-based Pod Consulting Group, which Martin founded.

Originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Martin said the idea for the new company was formed back in November 2006, when the Ontario Power Authority started its Standard Offer Program.

Pod Generating has a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Ontario Power Authority for its project, made up of two 10 MW facilities. It'll be getting 42-cents Canadian per kilowatt hour produced at the plant.

Martin would not disclose how much funding Pod Generating has received from Calyon, but the Pod Consulting web site says the solar group is backed by over $300 million in financing, with several strategic investors.

Since then, PGG has been awarded four more 10 MWp (MegaWatt-peak) solar projects as Renewable Energy Standard Offer Contracts with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) as detailed in Pod Generating Group Awarded Additional Ontario Solar Power Supply Contracts.

I believe the problems begin with PGG’s technology driven instead of market or solution driven VISION of THE NEW SPACE AGE:

The Pod Generating Group is dedicated to bringing space technology into daily use, here on Earth.

Through the development of utility-scale solar power generating facilities throughout Canada and the United States, Pod Generating Group is realizing this vision.

The Pod Generating Groups seems to be more about Canadian political connections bolstered by promises of local CPV manufacturing (Manufacturing Plant Coming to Sault Ste. Marie) when the exchange rate favors manufacturing across the border in Michigan than proper application of existing photovoltaic technologies.

I contacted both EMCORE and the Pod Generating Group (PGG) and asked the following questions about the Ontario Canada project:

• Can you please explain how an HCPV deployment in Ontario makes technical and economic sense at this point in their development?
• What is the expected direct solar insolation for this location used in the economic analysis?
• At current production costs, I don’t see how this project can break even?

EMCORE was aware of my request and chose not to respond. The Pod Generating Group did not respond to my emails or voice messages, and I was unable to reach a real person at the company. The extension listed on their press releases was wrong although an operator at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) was able to connect me with the voice mail of incubator client, PGG.

I expect this initial post will trigger a series of follow ups.

On a more festive note, please see Best Wishes for the Holidays and a great 2008! for my special holiday greeting.

Here is a bonus EMCORE Picasa slideshow from the 22nd EU PVSEC.

Bah Humbug! eBay cancels Nanosolar Solar Panel Auction

due to the promised charitable use of the proceeds

In the Nanosolar Blog entry eBay cancels our Panel #2 auction — due to charitable angle, Nanosolar Inc. CEO Martin Roscheisen explains the ironic legal story.

In conclusion, Mr. Roscheisen said:

In other words, Panel #2 will stay at Nanosolar for now; thank you to everyone participating in our auction (any complaints about eBay directly to eBay please); and most importantly: HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

I first noticed this yesterday evening when the eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) "bug" I set up to track the auction broke. Bummer, I found watching the auction an interesting holiday distraction.

Nanosolar Utility Panel #2 eBay Auction Update

Mind your Terms and Conditions
Solar panel to be held in escrow until June 1, 2009!

The Nanosolar Utility Panel #2 has been bid up on eBay from a Starting Price of US $0.99 to a post time high Bid of $10,700.00! Thirty-eight (38) bidders have made eighty-six (86) total bids to reach this point. Here is the Bid History.

In the description section, Nanosolar, Inc. said (Ed: bold added):

This solar panel is currently in Seller’s possession but it will be held in escrow until 6/1/2009 before local pick-up by the winning bidder (or shipment at cost to the winning bidder). Prior to delivery, the winning bidder agrees to sign an agreement with Seller prohibiting any reverse engineering of the solar panel or its components after the bidder receives the solar panel.

While the Wattage rating of the Nanosolar module is unknown, it is a safe bet this module is priced at over $50 (perhaps $100+?) per Watt at this point. Nice gross margin!

Nanosolar reserves the right to notify bidders and cancel this auction at anytime for any reason, but the PROCEEDS OF THIS AUCTION WILL BE USED FOR CHARITABLE CAUSE.

Nanosolar solar modules shipping!

Nanosolar Utility Panel(TM) #2 can be purchased by the highest bidder on eBay.

Nanosolar module array under construction behind the Nanosolar GmbH building in Luckenwalde, Germany. Source: Nanosolar, Inc.

Nanosolar, Inc. made a series of reports that started here with the post, In Search of Nanosolar GmbH, official with the press release Nanosolar Shipping for Megawatt Municipal Power Plant, but the real news is in the Nanosolar Blog with the post permalink Nanosolar Ships First Panels.

Per Nanosolar Chief Executive Officer Martin Roscheisen:

Today we are announcing that we have begun shipping panels for freefield deployment in Eastern Germany and that the first Megawatt of our panels will go into a power plant installation there.

This is the same €2.8 Million reference solar farm project I uncovered during my Nanosolar research and was first reported in the October 13, 2007, article Von der Abfallhalde zur Solaranlage, CDU-Politiker besichtigen Mülldeponie, by Elinor Wenke. Nanosolar partnered with Beck Energy GmbH to win this project with an initial size of 1MWp (MegaWatt-peak) located at a retired landfill in Luckenwalde, Germany.

Mr. Roscheisen goes on to enumerate the disposition of the first three official shipping commercial modules (aka panels):

Panel #1 will remain at Nanosolar for exhibit.
Panel #2 can be purchased by you in an auction on eBay starting today.
Panel #3 has been donated to the Tech Museum in San Jose.

[These are obviously not the first three we ever produced – we have produced loads for testing – but these are the first three of what we consider our commercial panels.]

Nanosolar module photo from the eBay auction. Source: Nanosolar, Inc.

At first check, Nanosolar Utility Panel #2 had a highest bit of $810 USD. I wonder how much a competitor or intrepid enthusiast will be willing to pay to get their hands on one of these “babies”. A quick check of the Nanosolar Products page reveals this is the only technical datasheet available.

Mr. Roscheisen goes on to list the 5 top defining benefits of Nanosolar modules. This one attracted my attention as new news:

- the world’s highest-current thin-film solar panel – delivering five times the current of any other thin-film panel on the market today and thus simplifying system deployment;

GUNTHER Portfolio now stands at post number 193. Is it possible to reach the 200 post milestone by the end of 2007? The post run rate over the past few weeks will need to increase.

PVSEC-17 Photovoltaic Conference Resources

"Be Ambitious! Seek the inspiration to bring happiness to humanity through your work in PV."

Since those closing words from the 17th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC-17) General Chairperson Professor Masafumi Yamaguchi (Toyota Technological Institute), the information packed Closing Address and Opening Address presentations have been uploaded to the PVSEC-17 Program page.

1439 Conference participants from around the world converged on the Fukuoka International Congress Center in Fukuoka, Japan, from December 3-7, 2007, for the 17th International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference (PVSEC-17). The PVSEC-17 Conference was dominated by Japan with 769 participants while the top six (6) was rounded out by Korea 182, Taiwan 123, USA 95, Germany 74, and China 22. The simultaneous PVSEC-17 Exhibition featuring 46 Exhibitors attracted 5027 visitors over the course of 3 days.

During the PVSEC-17 Conference, 627 Papers from 36 countries were presented including about 364 Poster Presentations. Germany vaulted to third in Papers from their participant attendance rank of fifth. Chairperson Professor Yamaguchi noted the above trend ratio of Papers to Attendees for PVSEC-17 versus peer international photovoltaic conferences: EU PVSEC, IEEE-PVSC, and WCPEC.

First, here is an outline of the PVSEC-17 Conference Program by topic Area:
Area 1 Novel Materials and Devices
Area 2 III-V Materials and Devices for Concentrator and Space PV Systems
Area 3 Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Technologies
Area 4 Amorphous & Nano/Microcrystalline Silicon Based Solar Cells and Related Materials
Area 5 CIGS, II-VI and Related Thin Films and Cells
Area 6 PV Modules and System Components
Area 7 Terrestrial PV Systems
Area 8 PV Programs, Industries, Market, and Environment

Here are the links to Oral Sessions segmented by Conference day: December 3, December 4, December 5, December 6, and December 7.

Here are the Poster Sessions with focus topic Area(s):
Poster Session 1 Area 3, Area 7
Poster Session 2 Area 3
Poster Session 3 Area 5, Area 8
Poster Session 4 Area 2, Area 6
Poster Session 5 Area 1, Area 4
Poster Session 6 Area 1, Area 4

The Closing Address presentation includes:

Program Summary
Program Highlights
Awards Commendation Ceremony

Readers are directed to review the selected Program Highlights for themselves (Closing Address, pp. 7-15).

Below, I have included the Paper, Poster, and Young Researcher Award winners. Please note a number of Areas have co-winners.

Paper Awards

Area 1
4O-A3-02 SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPE STUDY OF DYE-SENSITIZED TiO2(110)
A. Sasahara^1,2, M. Ikeda¹, N. Koide³, L. Han³ and H. Onishi^1
1Kobe University, Japan, ²Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan, ³Sharp Corporation, Japan

Area 2
6O-B11-03 DEVELOPMENT OF SPACE SOLAR SHEET
T. Kodama¹, H. Yamaguchi¹, N. Takahashi¹, T. Agui¹, H. Washio¹, K. Nakamura¹, T. Hisamatsu¹,
T. Takamoto¹, K. Shimazaki², M. Imaizumi² and K. Kibe^2
1SHARP Corporation, Japan, ²Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan

Area 3
6O-M5-01 HIGH EFFICIENCY MULTICRYSTALLINBE SILICON BACK CONTACT SOLAR CELLS
N. Nakatani, T. Sakamoto, K. Fukui and K. Shirasawa
Kyocera Corporation, Japan

6O-M4-01 22%-EFFICIENCY HIT SOLAR CELL
Y. Tsunomura, Y. Yoshimine, M. Taguchi, T. Kinoshita, H. Kanno, H. Sakata, E. Maruyama and M. Tanaka
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd., Japan

Area 4
5O-B6-01 LIGHT SCATTERING EFFECTS OF HIGHLY TEXTURED TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE OXIDES FILMES
N. Taneda, M. Kambe, T. Oyama and K. Sato
Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Japan

5O-B7-02 THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS BASED ON MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON-GERMANIUM NARROW GAP ABSORBERS
T. Matsui¹, C.W. Chang¹, T. Takada^1,2, M. Isomura², H. Fujiwara¹ and M. Kondo^1
1National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, ²Tokai University, Japan

Area 5
6O-A11-02 MASS-PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR CIGS MODULES
K. Matsunaga¹, T. Komaru¹, Y. Nakayama¹, T. Kume², and Y. Suzuki^2
1Honda Engineering Co., Ltd., Japan, ²Honda Soltec Co., Ltd., Japan

Area 6
6O-A10-02 DIFFERENCE IN THE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES OF BULK AND THINFILM SILICON BASED PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES
T. Minemoto, S. Fukushige and H. Takakura
Ritsumeikan University, Japan

Area 7
5O-C8-01 PERFORMANCE OF GRID CONNECTED PV INVERTERS DURING DISTURBED GRID CONDITIONS - CURRENT STATE OF PLAY & RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OPTIMAL PRODUCT DESIGN
R. Bruendlinger, B. Bletterie and C. Mayr
arsenal research, Austria

Area 8
6O-C9-05 ENVIRONMENTAL POTENTIAL OF VERY LARGE SCALE PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION (VLS-PV) SYSTEMS ON DESERTS
K. Komoto¹, M. Ito², N. Yamashita³ and K. Kurokawa^3
1Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., Japan, ²Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, ³Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

Poster Awards

Area 1
6P-P6-35 STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF PHOSPHORUS DOPED SILICON QUANTUM DOT SUPPERLATTICE FOR ALL SILICON TANDEM SOLAR CELL
X. Hao¹, E. Cho¹, G. Scardera¹, E. Bellet², D. Bellet², S. Park³, G. Conibeer¹ and M. A. Green^1
1University of New South Wales, Australia, ²Laboratoire GPM2-ENSPG, France, ³Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Korea

6P-P6-28 USE OF ZNO NANOSTRUCTURE TOWARDS HIGH EFFICIENCY INORGANIC/ORGANIC HYBRID THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS
K. Takanezawa, K. Tajima and K. Hashimoto
The University of Tokyo, Japan

Area 2
5P-P4-14 FIELD TEST OF A GRID-CONNECTED 500X CONCENTRATOR PV SYSTEM WITH DOME FRESNEL LENS
Y. Kemmoku¹, K. Araki², Y. Miyazaki³ and M. Hiramatsu^3
1Toyohashi Sozo University, Japan, ²Daido Steel Co., Ltd., Japan, ³Daido Metal Co., Ltd., Japan

Area 3
4P-P1-23 REAL-TIME OBSERVATION OF UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION PROCESSES FOR HIGHER-QUALITY MULTICRYSTALLINE SILICON INGOTS
I. Yamaga, K. Yamada, N. Araki, H. Suzuki and T. Saitoh
Dai-Ichi Kiden Corp., Japan

4P-P2-33 ALTERNATIVES TO SCREEN PRINTING FOR THE FRONT SIDE METALLIZATION OF SILICON SOLAR CELLS
M. Alemán, N. Bay, A. Knorz, A. Grohe and S. W. Glunz
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Germany

Area 4
6P-P6-62 ELECTRICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROGEN-TREATED ZnO:Al FILMS
S. Tark¹, M. Kang¹, S. Lee², W. Kim² and D. Kim^1
1Korea University, Korea, ²Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea

Area 5
5P-P3-13 SOLVOTHERMAL SYNTHESIS OF COPPER INDIUM DISELENIDE WITH FACILE SOLUTION ROUTE
J. Chang, H. Nam, J. Han and D. Jung
Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

5P-P3-17 BIFACIAL CIGS THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS USING HIGH MOBILITY Ti-DOPED In2O3 BACK CONTACTS
T. Miyano, R. Hashimoto, Y. Kanda, T. Mise and T. Nakada
Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan

Area 6
5P-P4-36 EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON DETECTING A DISCONNECTION POSITION OF BETWEEN PV MODULES BY THE ELECTRIC CAPACITANCE MEASUREMENT
J. Yamaguchi¹, T. Takashima² and M. Ishida^1
1University of Tsukuba, Japan, ²AIST, Japan

Area 7
4P-P1-48 RESEARCH ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL COORDINATES ACQUISITION FOR SHADOW ESTIMATION IN PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM
Y. Watanabe and K. Krokawa
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan

Area 8
5P-P3-76 FINANCING A VERY LARGE SCALE PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM IN GOBI DESERT
K. Megherbi¹, M. Ito², F. D. Ferretti¹ and K. Kurokawa^3
1Dexia Credit Local, France, ²Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, ³Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

Young Researcher Awards

Area 1
5O-A6-03 ORGANIC THIN–FILM SOLAR CELL EMPLOYING A NOVEL ELECTRON-DONOR MATERIAL
H. Kanno, M. Shirakawa, D. Fujishima, T. Kinoshita, H. Sakata, E. Maruyama and M. Tanaka
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Japan

Area 2
6O-B11-06 ANALYSIS OF SOLAR CELL DEGRADATION MECHANISM DUE TO ESD IN SPACE
T. Okumura¹, K. Toyoda¹, M. Imaizumi² and M. Cho^1
1Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan, ²Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan

Area 3
4P-P2-15 A NEW METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ULTRA-THIN CRYSTALLINE SI WAFERS
F. Dross¹, A. Milhe^1,2, J. Robbelein¹, I. Gordon¹,P. O. Bouchard², G. Beaucarne¹ and J. Poortmans^1
1IMEC, v.z.w., Belgium, ²Ecole des Mines de Paris (CEMEF), France

Area 4
5O-B7-04 6.3% EFFICIENCY SOLAR CELL EMPLOYING HIGH DEPOSITION RATE (8 NM/S) MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON PHOTOVOLTAICLAYER
Y. Sobajima, M. Nishino, T. Fukumori, T. Higuchi, S. Nakano, T. Toyama and H. Okamoto
Osaka University, Japan

Area 5
4O-C4-02 PHYSICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION OF COMPOUND INDIUM SULPHIDE AS BUFFER LAYER IN CU(IN,GA)SE2 SOLAR CELLS: MATERIAL CHARACTERISATION AND DEVICE PERFORMANCE
P. Pistor¹, R. Caballero¹, D. Hariskos², V. Izquierdo-Roca³, R. Wächter⁴ and R. Klenk^1
1Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Germany, ²Zentrum fuer Sonnenenergie-und Wasserstoff-Forschung, Germany, ³Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, ⁴Würth Solar GmbH & Co. KG, Germany

6O-A11-03 FABRICATION OF PENTANARY Cu(InGa)(SeS)2 ABSORBERS BY SELENIZATION AND SULFURIZATION
Y. Goushi, H. Hakuma, K. Tabuchi, S. Kijima and K. Kushiya
Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., Japan

Area 6
6O-A10-03 AN LED-BASED PHOTOVOLTAIC MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WITH VARIABLE SPECTRUM AND FLASH SPEED
M. Bliss, T. R. Betts and R. Gottschalg
Loughborough University, UK

Area 7
5O-C6-03 ESTIMATING THE CAPACITY VALUE AND PEAK-SHAVING POTENTIAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS IN ONTARIO: A CASE-STUDY FOR THE CITY OF TORONTO
S. Pelland¹ and I. Abboud^2
1CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Varennes, Canada, ²Environment Canada Experimental Studies Division ARQX, Canada

5O-C8-02 AN ANALYSIS OF ELECTRICITY COST OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS ON THE FIELD TEST PROJECT IN JAPAN
T. Oozeki¹, T. Yamada¹, K. Kato¹ and T. Yamamoto^2
1National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, ²New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan

Area 8
6O-C9-01 A PRELIMINALY LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS OF A MEGA-SOLAR SYSTEM IN JAPAN
M. Ito¹, M. Kudo² and K. Kurokawa^3
1Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, ²NTT Facilities, Inc., Japan, ³Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

Alas, although I had begun the preparations for attending PVSEC-17, I was unable to get away that first full week in December. I believe I missed getting a sense of the Photovoltaic (PV) market vibe from Japan and the PV research underway in Japan and Asia.

Thanks are in order to Greentech Media, Nanosolar Chooses German Town for Solar Plant, and Earth2Tech, Nanosolar Starts Thin-Film Solar Panel Production, for linking to my In Search of Nanosolar GmbH post.

In Search of Nanosolar GmbH

[Luckenwalde (Teltow-Fläming), Germany]

Checking on the status of the Nanosolar photovoltaic module production facility in Germany.
Nanosolar plans a €2.8 Million solar farm reference deployment on a nearby brownfield site.

After the 8. Forum Solarpraxis, I visited my cousin who lives south-southwest of Berlin near Luckenwalde, the home of Nanosolar’s module factory in Germany. I heard from a local source the deal was finalized and the location disclosed on June 12, 2007, per this notice from the Luckenwalde City Hall, Nanosolar übernimmt Stucki-Halle (Nanosolar takes over Stucki Factory), and in the regional newspaper, Zuschlag für Nanosolar, Neue Produktion in der Stucki-Halle (New production in the Stucki Factory).

At first, I proceeded to the end of Frankenfelder Strasse instead of driving down Frankenfelder Chaussee, and I found a small construction site located at a junk yard of sorts on a hill top. Such a small construction site couldn’t possibly be Nanosolar GmbH? No, but located in the Internet Dead Zone without an AirCard, I wasn’t able to double check the address. Navigating by nose, I recognized a familiar view from the direction of the Biotechnology Park Luckenwalde. It was the back of the Nanosolar GmbH module production facility.

Here are a few photos of the Nanosolar GmbH facility on the Sunday afternoon of my search. The Nanosolar signs were unobtrusive so it took a bit before I realized I had found it, and cars were absent from the parking lot. I apologize for the camera’s incorrect white balance setting resulting in the bluish tinge.

Well, reviewing the Nanosolar Blog alone, it is clear the company’s current primary focus is ramping CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) solar cell and module production at their San Jose facility.

In response to a press query and teaser photo taken during my Nanosolar GmbH “visit”, Nanosolar Chief Executive Officer Martin Roscheisen said:

Only preparatory work has been going on in Luckenwalde so far. The 24x6 panel line we operate in California has served all of our initial panel-assembly needs. Our German site is geared towards multi-100MW panel-assembly volume through a fully-automated line that is currently being developed by three tooling partners of ours. Our partners are on track to deliver this line as per our schedule. So there's going to be a lot of things happening in Luckenwalde very immediately!

Per the October 2007 Photon International article by Garrett Hering, Nanosolar to start »unbalanced« CIGS production at 430 MW plant by year-end:

Roscheisen would only say that Nanosolar expects to have an “unbalanced” production capacity by year-end, with some process steps at 100 MW and others already in the gigawatt range, and that the company is “sold out for 2008” at an unspecified level.

“Ours are sufficient to develop panels that are about 10-percent more efficient than First Solar’s,” claims Roscheisen. “The key thing,” he adds, “is that the quality of our CIGS coatings is indistinguishable from ones deposited with far more expensive vacuum machinery.”

About one week later, I visited the Nanosolar, Inc., location in San Jose on a Saturday afternoon. By contrast, there were about 20 cars in the parking lot.

Again, Nanosolar investor’s should be pleased the company isn’t wasting their money on fancy signage.

During my research, I uncovered this October 13, 2007, article in the Märkische Allgemeine, Von der Abfallhalde zur Solaranlage, CDU-Politiker besichtigen Mülldeponie, by Elinor Wenke. If my understanding is correct, Nanosolar is developing a large €2.8 Million reference solar farm project on a retired landfill site in 2008. This site is a few hundred meters down the road from Nanosolar GmbH, and the project is purported to be the first of its kind in the German state of Brandenburg.

The 50 production jobs enabled by Nanosolar GmbH are welcome in Luckenwalde where the unemployment rate touched a low of 15.2 percent for the first time since after the Wall fell. This August 2007 article, Quote bleibt bei 15,2 Prozent, 5274 Arbeitslose im Juli in der Region, by Uta Franke, indicates Nanosolar began hiring 11 employees for a job training program with production beginning in January 2008.

Mr. Roscheisen and the Nanosolar Team remember the balance and are in the process of bringing up module production at Nanosolar GmbH in the first quarter of 2008. Not every In Search of post will discover another AE Polysilicon situation.

AE Polysilicon: Follow the Trichlorosilane

Tracking the Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) Feedstocks

Continuing where AE Polysilicon: Preliminary Plan Approved left off, details regarding AE Polysilicon Corporation FBR feedstocks and process have emerged.

A process description for lay persons was presented at the October 16, 2007, meeting of the Falls Township Board of Supervisors. The impure silicon powder (98% pure) or metallurgical silicon (mg-Si) will be converted via a process described in a handout distributed to the Supervisors into a 99.9999% pure pelletized product (granular polysilicon). Will the polysilicon only be six nines pure (6N)? Later in the meeting, there were tacit claims the polysilicon is appropriate for electronic grade semiconductor applications. Is this an apparent contradiction or an indication the polysilicon will be of higher purity than stated?

The granular polysilicon produced by AE Polysilicon is a physical form perfect for continuous silicon wafer growth processes such as EFG (Edge-defined Film-fed Growth) and String Ribbon.

Metallurgical Silicon

When asked about the source of the powered metallurgical silicon, AE Polysilicon representative Chris Chang said,

I believe it is a kind of trade secret but we are going to purchase such type of metallurgical grade silicon from here. In the US.

My interpretation of the here in Mr. Chang’s statement was at the KIPC or from a local source in Pennsylvania. I don’t think there is an arc furnace at the KIPC. I didn’t see a plant that resembled a silicon metal production facility, so my strong suspicion is the metallurgical silicon powder is sourced outside the KIPC in Pennsylvania.

Trichlorosilane (TCS, HSiCl3)

Per the AE Polysilicon website:

AE Polysilicon was established in 2006 to develop and commercialize polysilicon production using fluidized bed reactors and trichlorosilane as feedstock gas.

AE Polysilicon also touts their FBR technology is an Environmentally friendly closed loop process.

Looking at the preliminary plan, the area between each pair of cells could be for a TCS production cell or TCS gas storage. I consulted with a few experts on Polysilicon plants, but their review of the sketchy preliminary plan was inconclusive. The drawing had insufficient detail. Since then, I have learned AE Polysilicon will produce TCS onsite from a well informed, confidential source. This is logical considering the above claims of a closed loop process and the planned size of the facility.

In AE Polysilicon moves to Pennsylvania, I asked the following question:

How and/or from whom will AE Polysilicon source the silane or trichlorosilane required by their Fluidized Bed Reactor technology?

In reviewing this, I thought the silane part had been a mistake. At least until I noticed this figure in a presentation by Motech Solar (a division of Motech Industries Inc., TPO:6244) CEO Dr. Yuan-Huai Simon Tsuo first cited in AE Polysilicon: Preliminary Plan Approved.

Source: Motech Solar presentation June 20, 2007

The Fluidized Bed Reactor in the above diagram utilizes silane (SiH4) as the fluid gas instead of trichlorosilane. Was this illustrative diagram in error or a red herring? While the AE Polysilicon process may begin with TCS, could their patented, closed loop, TCS process include conversion to silane at a later process stage? Maybe this is not such a surprise since the AE Polysilicon team is purported to include ex-employees of Foster Wheeler and ASiMI. ASiMI is now REC Solar Grade Silicon LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSL:REC).

I’ve noticed the AE Polysilicon website, http://www.aepolysilicon-nj.com, has been down since about Sunday. Perhaps they have acquired the http://www.aepolysilicon.com domain name? Until construction does begin, I know they need to correct the statement:

AE Polysilicon has purchased and begun construction of the production facility at Keystone Industrial Port Complex (KIPC) in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.