Solar Cells Info

Sharp Corp will introduce two new thin-film solar (photovoltaic) modules with better temperature characteristics intended for commercial/industrial applications.

November 20, 2006
source: Nikkei Electronics Asia
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/dailynewsdetail/005692

Market demand in this area will be growing significantly in the future, and the new model NA-902WP is intended for industrial/commercial use in the Japanese market, while the NA-901WP is targeted at international markets. The NA-901WP and NA-902WP are high-output models, delivering 90W of power. The adoption of an amorphous/microcrystalline thin-film tandem cell design, which uses stacked layers of amorphous silicon and microcrystalline silicon achieves a conversion efficiency of 8.5% (40% higher than conventional amorphous solar cells), among the industry’s highest levels for thin-film silicon-based solar cells currently in volume production.

Compared to polycrystalline silicon solar cells intended for typical residential applications, on top of having superb temperature characteristics, the most outstanding feature of these new cells is the ability to form the silicon raw materials into a layer of only about 2µm onto a glass substrate, which is roughly 1/100th as thick as conventional polycrystalline solar cells. The amount of silicon used is reduced, and the process is applicable to manufacturing cells with large surface areas.

Further, Sharp’s thin-film solar (photovoltaic) modules are covered with tempered glass for increased strength and minimum reflected surface glare. The external surface appearance is an attractive black, a feature typical of thin-film solar cells. When used in combination with the company’s Lumiwall illuminating solar panels with built-in LEDs or with building material-integrated, transparent-type thin-film solar cells, these new modules will enable development of applications with better designs.