December 19, 2005 – Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced it that in 2007 it will begin mass production of an independently developed thin film solar cell composed of non-silicon compound materials, which requires 50% less energy, and thus generate 50% less CO2, during production compared to a conventional solar cell. A mass production plant with annual capacity of 27.5 megawatts will be established at Honda’s Kumamoto factory.
By using thin film made from a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS), Honda’s next-generation solar cell achieves a major reduction in energy consumed during the manufacturing process to approximately 50% of the energy required to make conventional crystal silicon solar cells. Thus, this new solar cell is more environmentally-friendly by reducing the amount of CO2 even from the production stage. Further, this next-generation solar cell has achieved the highest level of photoelectric transfer efficiency for a thin film solar cell (almost equivalent to the conventional crystal silicon solar cell).
Honda will be in direct competition with Kyocera, Sharp and Mitsubishi in the Japanese market. More importantly Honda will be the first Japanese company to concentrated its activities on non-silicon thin-film solar cells. CIGS cells have been the mainstay of Daystar, a U.S. company and a few other smaller companies. ECD Ovonics is the other leader in thin film solar cells, using amorophous silicon technology, which they claim has the advantage of not using toxic cadnium, which the CIGS cells use. Early difficulty with the stability with amorphous silicon cells has been overcome according to Ovonics. Many, including myself, consider the future of solar cells to lie in thin-film solar cells, although silicon manufacturers, especially Sharp have projected dramatic cost reductions by reducing their silicon content and taking advantge of the economies of scale. Thin film solar cells are more adaptable to high volume production in addition to using less energy to produce and being less costly due to not using silicon.
Honda to Mass Produce Next-Generation Thin Film Solar Cell, Press release, December 19, 2005
Thanks to lead from Clean Break
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