After decades of promise, the solar industry may finally be heading into a decade of relative prosperity driven by the instability of fuel pricing and the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas. The industry is also moving toward using standards in manufacturing as a way to improve efficiency and drive costs down.
Solar development has gotten a lot of R&D support from governments along with sizable tax breaks over the past couple decades. They’ve helped build an infrastructure that may finally be on the verge of competing with coal-based power plants and other power sources utility companies built long ago.
The photovoltaic industry is experiencing dramatic growth. Worldwide market installations hit a record high of 5.95 gigawatts (GW) in 2008, up from 2,826 megawatts (MW) in 2007, according to the Marketbuzz 2009 report. Growth of more than 100 percent represented $37.1 billion in global revenues. Europe accounted for 82 percent of world demand, led by Spain and Germany.
Companies that see these growth rates don’t really care if the market needs tax incentives. Manufacturers are ramping up quickly. Global production of solar cells rose to 6.85 GW in 2008, roughly doubling the 3.44 GW of 2007. Thin film production also recorded solid growth, up 123 percent in 2008 to reach 0.89 GW. The cost of these cells will be a key determinant of continuing market growth, as well as the industry’s ability to survive without government incentives.
Cell production is a critical factor. In the manufactured price of a solar module, silicon wafers account for about 45 percent of the cost. That still leaves more than half the cost for other technologies such as assembly. IPC is stepping in to provide standards that will help manufacturers reduce their costs.
IPC’s Solar Assembly Committee is creating standards in four areas. Companies that make solar cells and assemblies saw the similarities to the board assembly activities that depend on IPC standards. Two of the IPC documents under development by the E-12 and E-14 standards subcommittees, provide guidelines for production.
The Solar Panel Lamination Subcommittee is writing a guideline, Acceptability Guidelines for Solar Panel Lamination, that will set acceptance standards for the lamination of glass-backside-foil solar modules with crystalline solar cells using encapsulation sheets as an adhesive material. It will include visual and other performance criteria for encapsulation sheets, glass, photovoltaic cells, ribbons, bus bars and backside foil as they relate to creating the basic laminated assembly.
The other acceptability document under development, by the E-14 subcommittee, Acceptability Criteria for Tabbing and Stringing, will provide standards for the tabbing and stringing of silicon solar cells. It will focus on solar cell and cell “string and tab” quality, while also providing interconnect and other associated quality standards. Those cells that pass these requirements will be placed as a string onto the solar panel glass and adhesive sheets.
The E-13 subcommittee will focus on a related facet of production, setting requirements for electronic grade tabbing/stringing/bussing materials used in the assembly of solar panels. This specification will define tell how to determine the acceptability of conductive materials in module assembly such as the photovoltaic interconnect ribbon and silver conductive paste.
Visual acceptance is the focus of the E-15 subcommittee, which is setting criteria for solar panel final module assemblies. This subcommittee will develop visual acceptance standards for the solar panel in final module assembly. For example, sections describing the junction boxes used in solar panels include inspection criteria for sealants and potting compounds. If they have cracking and moisture ingresses, a visual inspection quality system would help manufacturers determine acceptability.
For more information on solar standards development, contact Anthony Hilvers, IPC vice president of industry programs, at +1 847-597-2837.
IPC APEX EXPO Will Offer Information on Solar
How will electronics support the “green wave” to solar power? Learn how at a free forum on Solar Panels: New Opportunities for Electronics on Wednesday, April 7. Join expert panelists as they discuss solar technologies and opportunities. And new this year, technical conference attendees can attend a session on solar panel assembly. The session, moderated by Dongkai Shangguan of Flextronics Corporate Technology Group, will cover critical issues for solar module assembly, including technology overview, assembly process, assembly equipment, materials, certification and industry standards, process capability, quality control and more.
