Unaxis Lowers Production Costs, Reduces Silicon Content of Thin Film Solar Cells

The Solar business unit of Unaxis, which the company has actively expanded in the recent past, is setting new standards in solar-cell technology. Using its newly developed production equipment thin film solar cells can be produced at 30 percent less costs than traditional cells and, in contrast to conventional manufacturing processes, require only a fraction of the scarce raw material silicon. With their high energy yield and low cost of materials, these thin film solar cells have the potential to compete with traditional energy sources. That Unaxis is at the forefront with its innovative technology is also confirmed by its having been awarded the Swiss Solar Prize for 2005.

The first deposition unit for mass production of solar cells has already been installed at customer facilities, and further units are currently being produced. For the 2005 financial year, Unaxis expects that its solar activities will generate revenues in excess of CHF 20 million (US $15 million) and is anticipating higher growth rates in 2006.

Neither their press release or their website disclose the exact nature of their technology used for solar cell production, but the following information from their website gives a view of some of the technologies that they are involved in:

Unaxis is a globally leading provider of production systems, components, and services for high-technology products based on core competencies in thin film and vacuum technology. Unaxis facilitates the production of high-tech products such as microchips, flat panel displays, digital data storage devices, video projectors, solar cells and satellites, as well as industrial products like energy-saving diesel engines and high-performance machine tools.

Thin film technology makes it possible to deposit ultra-thin functional material layers on a base substrate like a semiconductor, a DVD, or a sheet of glass destined for a flat panel display. Thin films can range in thickness from a few micrometers (thousandths of a millimeter) down to just a few nanometers (millionths of a millimeter), depending on the application. The thinnest films made by Unaxis consist of only a few atomic layers. By comparison, a human hair is around 0.05 millimeters in diameter, 50 times thicker than even a relatively substantial thin film.

Most thin films are multi-layer systems, composed of several strata of various materials like common and precious metals (e.g. titanium, aluminum, copper, gold, silver), semiconductors (e.g. silicon) and insulators (e.g. oxides, nitrides). It is crucial for coating materials to be extremely pure – sometimes as high as 99.999 percent.

Unaxis also deploys its core competencies as a major provider of semiconductor technology. The Semiconductor Equipment segment encompasses the Wafer Processing and Assembly & Packaging (ESEC) divisions. Wafer Processing is a leading supplier of production systems for the semiconductor industry. Its equipment is used for the deposition and etching of wafers on which microchips are produced. Wafer Processing is a leading provider of production systems for semiconductors. These systems are used in etching and coating of wafers. As a provider of full-range solutions for the production of large-surface thin film cells, Unaxis Solar commands a leading position in the photovoltaics market.

Unaxis currently employs approximately 6,800 individuals and, in its 2004 financial year, achieved sales of CHF 1,850 million (US $1,410 million).

I would be most curious to find out who is using their equipment.  Kyocera just announced that "We're developing technology where we can significantly bring down the amount of the silicon wafer used next year".  Start-ups SunPower and Advent Solar are have new production processes that use less silicon.  Also as previously reported Sharp has predicted that the price of solar cells would be halved by 2010.  Unaxis competitor Amtech on Nov.16 announced that it has "received $4.5 million in total commitments from the solar cell industry during the last sixty days, including $3.3 million of orders and a $1.2 million letter of intent."  It seems that the solar cell companies are finding ways of reducing their silicon consumption to somewhat mitigate the silicon shortage. This will help us on our way to the $1.50 per watt cost of silicon panels that is necessary for solar cells to compete with base load electrical power production.

Resources:

Unaxis to expand solar activities, press release, November 17, 2005
Unaxis Management AG, Pfäffikon SZ, Switzerland

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Comments

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It sure seems like the solar revolution is emminent, driven by both advances in concentrating solar PVs and solar thermals and by advances in thin-film tech. The former could see large-scale solar farms competing with traditional power sources and the later could realize the dream of millions of solar rooftops across the country...

[Asif]

It will be interesting to see which of the solar technologies emerges as a winner. Idealab has an interesting idea of using 7 mirrors to focus the energy unto solar panels.

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