Solar photovoltaics 03: Efficiency improvements in commercial multicrystalline solar cells
Renewable Energy Commercialisation in Australia, Australian Greenhouse Office, 2003
NOTE: The status of these projects will have changed since the time of publication, and project contacts may also have changed.
BP Solar's transfer of Australian National University technology into its commercial production of photovoltaic solar cells is expected to significantly lower costs and sustain market competitiveness.
With the assistance of a Renewable Energy Commercialisation Program grant of $482,000, Sydney-based BP Solar Pty Ltd is commercialising a technological breakthrough that offers to remove some significant cost barriers currently faced by the renewable energy industry.
The solar electricity industry uses photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to convert the sun's energy and is one of the world's fastest-growing industries. However, this has also led to a consequent growth in demand for silicon feedstock, an integral component of the solar panels, which places constraints on the manufacturer's ability to supply orders.
In a collaborative venture with the Photovoltaic Research Group of the Australian National University, a world leader in the area, BP Solar has substantially increased the energy output from its PV solar panels by implementing the university's research results into its Australian-based commercial solar cell production.
BP Solar's strength is in competitive high-quality commercial solar cell manufacture, of which it is one of the world's largest producers. The company's 'multicrystalline process' manufactures cells that currently have a typical efficiency of from 12.2 to 13.5 per cent.
Although the photovoltaics industry is poised to play a vital role in improving the sustainability of the energy sector both within Australia and internationally, it needs continued cost reductions for this to occur. The university's technology has achieved major efficiency gains to 17 per cent without requiring large-scale capital infrastructure investment and using the same area of silicon. By transferring this technology into commercial production, BP Solar will significantly lower the cost of PV solar electricity in real terms.
The company sees the project's successful implementation as an important instance of Australian research and development being commercialised at home rather than taken offshore.
BP Solar has focused some of the best research on an existing commercially successful process in an existing commercially successful manufacturing company that produces PV energy generation products and systems. Export markets for alternative energy systems are conservatively estimated to grow at a rate of around 30 per cent per year. Lowering the production costs for this energy will both reduce domestic and world greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
By 1997, Asian markets already accounted for 30 per cent of the company's total production. However, although the potential for growth is huge, BP Solar believes that to remain competitive in Asia it must increase efficiency and reduce costs.
In the Indonesian and Philippine islands alone there are millions of households with little prospect of connection to a traditional electricity grid in the foreseeable future. For many of these people, a stand-alone solar or diesel system supplemented by solar energy is the logical and economical power solution.
For more information please contact
Cindy Farelly
Marketing Manager
BP Solar Pty Ltd
2 Australia Avenue
Homebush Bay NSW 2127
(PO Box 114 Homebush Bay NSW 1821)
Tel (02) 8762 5777
Fax (02) 8762 5889
Email farrelc@azl.bp.com
Internet www.bpsolar.com.au
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