Solar Energy Technologies:

Research, Applications and

Opportunities
Presentation to DOE/National Association of State
Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC)

August 3, 2004

John P. Benner, Division Manager

Electronic Materials and Devices
Solar Technology Programs

Photovoltaics (PV)

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)

Solar Thermal

Solar Lighting
 Solar Lighting

Distributed Electric light

sunlight

Estimated Itemized Cost in

Small (~500 units) Quantities Fiber used in 2003 design
Primary/secondary mirror - $200.00
Each 3 mm
Balance of roof-mounted system - $1,000.00
fiber carries
Light Distribution - $1,200.00
350 lumens
Hybrid Luminaires/Controls - $600.00
Building Preparation - $500.00 Fiber used in 2004 design
Installation/Alignment/Calibration - $500.00
Total - ~$4,000.00 per m2 of collection area

Estimated Levelized Cost 0.12 $/kWh

 Low-Cost Solar Water Heaters
Unpressurized, Integral Collector
Storage (UPICS) Schematic
Immersed heat exchanger

Glazing(s)

Insulation Supply/Return
Piping
Thin-walled polymer
vessel of water
 Low-Cost Solar Water Heaters
Status:
Mild climates: $0.08 - $0.10/kWh in 2003
Cold climates: $0.12 - $0.14/kWh in 2003

Technical Challenges:
Polymer durability the key technical challenge
System performance
Overheating protection
Heat exchanger sizing and placement
Building code issues
Use of plastics, e.g., flammability
Structural concerns, e.g., roof weight, wind loading
Manufacturing process design
Thermoforming and rotomolding tolerances and temperature
limits
 Concentrating Solar Power
Power Tower

Concentrating
Photovoltaics

Parabolic Trough

Dish/Stirling
 SW Solar Energy Potential
Solar Land
Capacity Area
State (MW) (Sq Mi)
AZ 3,267,456 25,527
CA 821,888 6,421
NV 743,296 5,807
NM 3,025,920 23,640
Total 7,858,560 61,395
The table and map represent land that has no primary use
today, exclude land with slope > 1%, and do not count
sensitive lands.

Solar Energy Resource 7.0 kWhr/m2/day (includes only excellent and premium resource)

Current total generation in the four states is over 100,000

MW.
Planned additions in four states over the next 3 5 years
are 37,099 MW of which 87.6% is natural gas.
1000 MW of CSP requires 7.7 mi2.
Kramer Junction SEGS Collector
Availability
100.0

99.5

99.0

98.5
Availability - %

98.0

97.5

97.0

96.5

96.0

95.5

95.0
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
 Concentrating Solar Parabolic
Trough Systems
Current Advances UVAC / Cermet Comparision - SEGS VI

20% improvement in 120% 1200

100% 1000
receiver efficiency

Thermal Efficiency - %

Insolation - W/m^2
80% 800

Development of lower-cost 60% 600

concentrator designs 40% 400

Reduction in LEC from 200

20%

0% 0

$.16/kWh to $.10/kWh 5:00 7:00

UVAC Loop (3/4)

9:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00

Base Loop (5/6) Insolation 3/28/01

Projected Advances
Integration w/ low-cost
thermal storage
Improved efficiency through
advanced receivers and
high temperature operation
Cost reductions through
plant scale-up
Reduction in LEC from
$.10/kWh to $.04-$.06/kWh
 Parabolic Trough
Development Activities
Trough R&D

Low-cost concentrator
designs
Near- and long-term
thermal storage
Advanced receiver
designs
Alternative power
cycles
 1000 MW Initiative
In 2001 Congress asked DOE to determine what would be
required to deploy 1000 MW of Concentrating Solar Power
in the Southwest U. S.

DOE and CSP industry approached the Western

Governors Association through the Western Interstate
Energy Board to explore implementation.

A number of Southwestern States have high solar potential

and some have renewable energy portfolio standards
(particularly, AZ, CA, NM, and NV) and the potential to gain
from development of their solar energy resources.

Western Governors likely to create Southwest Solar Task

Force to investigate mechanisms for implementing regional
initiative
World PV Cell/Module Production (MW)
800
744.1

700

600 561.8

Rest of world
500
Europe
Japan 390.5
400
U.S.
300 287.7

201.3
200
154.9
125.8
100 77. 88.6
46.5 55.4 57.9 60.1 69.4 6
33.6 40.2
0
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Source: PV News, March 2004
PV Manufacturing R&D Cost/Capacity

Actual Projected

PV Manufacturing Research Data (DOE/U.S. Industry Partnership)

 Reduction
ReductionininModule
ModulePrice vs Cumulative
Price Shipments
versus Cumulative Shipments
1980 thru 1999Experience
History(totalCurve
world)
100

25% reduction in price for

every doubling of cumulative shipments
$[1999]/Wp

10

Source: Paul Maycock

1
10 100 1000 10000
Cumulative Worldwide Shipments MWp
 PV Market Sectors

2000 Actual 0.3 GW 2010 Projected 4.5 GW

Consumer Communication
Off Grid Hybrid/Commercial
Grid Connected BIPV Utility Scale
 Crystalline Silicon (Ingot-Based) PV
Wire saw

Key companies: Shell Solar, BP Solar, GE, Efficiency Status Cells Modules
Sharp, Kyocera, Sanyo, Motech, Cypress- Float-zone 24.7 22.7*
SunPower Czochralski 22.0 1317
Cast poly 19.8 1016
~85% of today's market
Batch/continuous processing
~800 MW capacity (to double in near-term)
High-efficiency devices in production
Proven products, 20-25 year warranties
Well-developed technology base--new
Large ingots: 100 kg CZ, 250 kg casting understanding of defects/impurities
Multiple ingot growth with melt * Best prototype
replenishment 02679603

Wire saw: < 250 m wafers, < 200 m kerf

Light Induced Current Map Reflectance Map

3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000

Dislocation Map Grain Boundary Map

 Crystalline Silicon
(Non-Ingot-Based) PV Substrate
Tc
Si

I
SiI2 SiI4
Si Th
3 m/min
~20 m
Silicon
GE [110] Source
P = 1 atm.
RWE Schott

Key companies: RWE Schott Solar, Evergreen

Solar, GE, Pacific Solar, Kaneka Efficiency Status Cells Modules
Status varies from prototype modules to pilot EFG 1416 1113
production to commercial products (many MW) String ribbon 1416 1012
Thick Si/substrate 16.6 910
Proven products (~ 6% of market)
Thin Si/substrate 5-12* ~ 7**
Capacity increases underwaymany tens of
*Depends on process (some efficiencies not verified)
MW in near term ** Best prototype
Improved performance from defect/impurity and
passivation studies
Increasing interest in thin silicon growth 02679605
Ink Jet Printing of Ag and Cu contacts
for Si Solar Cells 8% Cells on Si3N4
a

Line thickness: 15 m
Line width: 250m
Dep. temperature : 180 oC
Ann. temperature: 850 oC
Substrates from Evergreen Solar
 Building Higher Efficiency onto the
Expanding Infrastructure for Silicon PV
Heterojunction a-Si/c-Si cell GaNP on Si Tandem
Potential >20% Efficient Potential >30% Efficient
ITO ITO

GaN0.02P0.98
a-Si n-type emitter a-Si n-type emitter
a-Si intrinsic thin layer a-Si intrinsic thin layer

p-type crystal-Si wafer p-type crystal-Si wafer

Al-Si alloyed p+-type back-surface field Al-Si alloyed p+-type back-surface field

Al Al
Si
14.17 %
Best Voc=628 mV (p-type CZ
cell record)
GaP GaN0.03P0.97

Si
Si
Conventional PV Installations
 Powerlight Roof Integrated PV
System
Advances in PV System
Design Can Also Achieve
Cost Advantages

United Solar Shingles

Combines PV Power with Energy
Saving from Insulation
 Thin-Film PV

Key companies: United Solar/ ECD, Shell Solar, Efficiency status: Cell 12-19
EPV, Global Solar/ITN, First Solar, Iowa Thin Submodule 10-12
Films, HelioVolt, Wurth Solar, Showa-Shell, Module 711
DayStar, Miasol Commercial 510
Understanding of film growth, microstructures,
Multi-MW/year in consumer products defects, and device physics
5 and 10 MW plants operational; few tens of Reproducible high-efficiency processes
MW in near term Multiple junctions
Unique products for building integration 02679607
 CIGS Performance Across the Entire
Compositional Range for Tandem Cells
19.3%
18

Efficiency (%)
16 14.5%
14 14.5%
12
10.2%
10

1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Absorber band gap (eV)
Open Circuit voltage (V

0.9
0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5
1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
Absorber band gap (eV)
 Polycrystalline Thin Film Tandem
Solar Cell
7059 Cornning glass
CTO
ZTO
CdTe top cell
S-CdS:O In contact
Achieved 50%
transmission, CdTe
12.7% efficiency CuxTe back-contact
ITO
Ni/Al grids

Ni/Al grids
c-ZTO / i-ZnO
CBD-CdS
CIS bottom cell In contact
Achieved 14.5% CIS
efficiency Mo

Soda-lime glass

FY06 milestone: 15% efficient 4-terminal device will be met one year early
Accomplishments: High Throughput
Methods
Developing Capabilities for
Combinatorial Materials Science at NREL
Combinatorial, Focused-Beam X-ray Diffraction

Ga2O3

ZnO
CdO SnO2

In2O3
 High Throughput Research Methods
4000 35 80
conductivity

TCO 3500
mobility
carrier concentration
30
70
Research
Combi at 3000 60
Time

Carrier Concentration x 10
25

NREL Compressed
-1

2500 50
Conductivity ( cm)

Mobility (cm
20

2000 40 to one week

15

2
/V*s)
1500 30

19
(#/cm
10
1000 20

3
)
5
500 10

0 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
%In for Zn (as-measured by EPMA)

2 2

10008 1000
8
6 6
1000 Library 2 Library 3 Library 4
%In: 15 50 4
%In 34->75% 4
%In: 62 -> 95
2 2

49.3 1008 100

42.9 8
33.4 6 75.3 6 94.5
25.6 4 67.8
58.8 4 92.0
100 20.0 86.3
15.4 49.4
2 41.9 78.9
2 71.1
34.0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 62.7
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
2 (deg.) 2 (deg.)
2 (deg.)
 High-Efficiency and Concentrator PV

ENTECH
Spectrolab
Amonix

Key companies: Amonix, Spectrolab, Efficiencies: Si (up to 400X) 27

Emcore, Sunpower, ENTECH; Solar GaAs (up to 1000X) 28
Systems ltd GaInP2/GaAs (1X) 30.3
Manufacturability demonstrated GaInP2/GaAs (180X) 30.2
Low-concentration, line focus GaInP2/GaAs/Ge (40600X) 36.9
High-concentration, point focus
Module efficiencies: 15-17% (Si); best prototypes:
High efficiency cells (Si, GaAs,
>20% (Si), >24% (GaAs), 28% (GaInP2/GaAs/Ge,10X)
multijunctions) in production
Limited applications in today's markets
Large space markets drive GaInP2/GaAs and
GaInP2/GaAs/Ge commercial cell production
02679613

Hydrogen generation may be well

matched
Solar Tracking Provides 9

Energy Benefits
8.0 8.0
7

6 6.5
5.7
5

3 100.0% 113.4% 139.5% 139.4%

2

0
Fixed Horizontal Fixed Latitude Tilt 1-Axis Tracker Concentrator
(1000 W/m2 (1000 W/m2 (1000 W/m2 (850 W/m2 Rating)
Rating) Rating) Rating)

Tracking systems provide 15 to 20% more energy than fixed PV

Up to 40% more than fixed horizontal systems
7
 Novel Concepts, Excitonic Devices
and New Materials
Key Companies: GE,
Kodak, Konarka,
NanoSolar, NanoSys,
Luna, UltraDots

Dye-sensitized TiO2 photochemical

cells
Potential for very low cost
Nanocrystalline TiO2, with monolayer dye
sensitizer,in liquid electrolyte
11%-efficient cell; scale-up for consumer
products underway
Dye stability issue
Gel or solid-state electrolytes in research
Photoelectrochromic window (with WO3)
02679615
 Accomplishments: Discovery
Organic Solar Cells
Nanostructured Oxides Polymer Composites
 Controlled Nucleation Layers for
Nanocomposite Organic Solar Cells
2D Structure Fiber

Nanofibril
Layer

Substrate

Controlled
Nucleation Layer

The Goal
Wetted with
P3HT

ZnO Nanofibrils
 Best Research-Cell Efficiencies
Spectrolab
36 Multijunction Concentrators
Three-junction (2-terminal, monolithic) Spectrolab
Two-junction (2-terminal, monolithic)
Japan
32 Crystalline Si Cells Energy NREL/
Single crystal NREL Spectrolab
NREL
Multicrystalline
28 Thin Si
Thin Film Technologies UNSW
UNSW
24 Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Spire UNSW
Efficiency (%)

CdTe UNSW NREL

UNSW Cu(In,Ga)Se2
Amorphous Si:H (stabilized) Spire Stanford 14x concentration
UNSW
20 Emerging PV
Westing- ARCO Georgia Tech Sharp
Georgia Tech NREL

Dye cells Varian NREL NREL

house
NREL
16 Organic cells University NREL
No. Carolina So. Florida
(various technologies) State University NREL
Euro-CIS AstroPower
ARCO Boeing
Solarex
12 Boeing
Kodak
AMETEK
Boeing
United Solar

Masushita University of
Kodak United Solar Lausanne
Boeing AstroPower
8 Monosolar
RCA
Photon Energy
Boeing Solarex
Groningen Siemens
University of Princeton
University
4 of Maine
RCA
RCA
Lausanne
RCA RCA Cambridge
RCA Kodak UCSB University
RCA University Linz Linz
0 Berkeley

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

 Solar Technologies
Research and Applications
Solar technologies maintain an aggressive
learning curve and are cost competitive as
alternative energy sources in a growing number of
markets
Approaching retail electricity rates in Japan and Europe
Low retail energy costs in the U.S. discourage
manufacturing and deployment of new
technologies
Projected technology improvements can bring
solar electricity generating costs to U.S. retail
electric levels
 Changing Energy Landscape
Natural Gas Shortage
Transmission and Distribution
Limitations
CEOs Call for National Energy
Strategy
With Balance
International Pressure on Global
Climate Change
State and Local Initiatives for
Renewable Energy
 Energy Reserves and Resources
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000
(Exa)J Unconv
80000
60000 Conv
40000
20000
0
Rsv =Reserves Oil Oil Gas Gas Coal Coal
Res=Resources Rsv Res Rsv Res Rsv Res

Reserves/(1998 Consumption/yr) Resource Base/(1998 Consumption/yr)

Oil 40 -78 51 -151

Gas 68 -176 207 -590
Coal 224 2160
From: Nathan Lewis, Global Energy Perspective
Mean Global Energy Consumption, 1998

5 4.52
4.5
4
3.5 2.96
3 2.7
TW 2.5
2
1.5 1.21
1 0.828
0.5 0.286 0.286
0
Oil Gas Coal Hydro BiomassRenew Nuclear

Total: 12.8 TW U.S.: 3.3 TW (99 Quads)

From: Nathan Lewis, Global Energy Perspective
 Sources of Carbon-Free Power

Nuclear (fission and fusion)

10 TW = 10,000 new 1 GW reactors
i.e., a new reactor every other day for the next 50 years

2.3 million tonnes proven reserves; 1 TW-hr requires 22 tonnes of U

Hence at 10 TW provides 1 year of energy
Terrestrial resource base provides 10 years of energy
Would need to mine U from seawater (700 x terrestrial resource base)

Carbon sequestration

Renewables

From: Nathan Lewis, Global Energy Perspective

From: Paul B. Weisz, Physics Today, July 2004
 Solar Land Area Requirements

3 TW

From: Nathan Lewis, Global Energy Perspective

From: Paul B. Weisz, Physics Today, July 2004
 The Need to Produce Fuel
Power Park Concept

Fuel Production
H2 Production Stationary
Generation
/ Reformate
H2Distribution
Fuel Fuel
Processor Fuel
Cell
H2 Purification,
or
Storage
Storage, Cell
Electrolyzer
Dispensing

H2

From: Nathan Lewis, Global Energy Perspective

 Energy Costs
$0.05/kW-hr
14
12
10

Europe
8
$/GJ
6

Brazil
4
2
0
Coal Oil Biomass Elect

www.undp.org/seed/eap/activities/wea
 Low Cost Processes

Large-Area Optical and Electronic Materials

10000

1000 FPD

100
$/M2 Fuel Cell PV
Bipolar plate
10
Coated Glas SolarFuels
s Electrode
1 Glass
Paint
1 10 100 1000 10000
Million M2 per Year
 Solar Technology Opportunities

Source of Carbon Free Power

Solar energy is the only currently practical primary

source in sufficient abundance to sustain growing
energy demand for centuries to come.

Massive change to energy infrastructure requires

decades to implement, along with massive
investment.