EFY REPORT

solar PV Cells
TargeT grid PariTy
The main challenge before solar cell manufacturers is to reduce the cost of devices through increase in efficiency, reduction of rejection and increase in volume of production

Solar cell line of Solar Semiconductor

Uma Bansal

he solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing base in India comprises primarily module manufacturers and now an increasing number of cell manufacturers. During 2008-09, 15 companies were actively engaged in manufacture of solar cells and 20 in manufacture of PV modules. Around 50 companies were engaged in manufacturing a variety of PV systems. Compared to the global scale, the
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Indian market has so far remained very small. And leading Indian solar PV cells and modules manufacturing companies have been exporting most of their production to established markets such as Germany, Spain and the US. Production capacity in India is currently estimated in excess of 400 MW for cells and 1000 MW for modules, and is expected to cross 750 MW and 1250 MW, respectively, by the end of year 2010, informs Sathya Prasad, president, SEMI India.

These capacities are currently adequate to take care of the requirements of the first phase of the National Solar Mission, which targets to install 1000 MW of grid-connected solar plants by March 2013. Eventually, the Mission targets to have up to 5000 MW of solar manufacturing capacity by 2016-17. Most of the demand in India is for domestic home lighting systems for rural areas, where there is no light and the government cant lay transmission lines. These are decentralised systems,
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Production capacity in India is currently estimated in excess of 400 MW for cells and is expected to cross 750 MW by the end of year 2010.Sathya Prasad, president, SEMI India
i.e., one house can have one system, having two CFLs of 9W each. Going forward, the domestic demand is expected to increase dramatically, driven largely by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. With the policy frameworks of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), especially the Jawahrlal Nehru National Solar Mission, and the solar policy and programmes of some states like Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, the grid-connected MW-scale projects market is finally opening up in India. Rural electrification and telecom would be the major drivers of growth. Telecom towers for cellphones require a lot of electricity, which is currently provided by diesel generators. This can be replaced with solar power, says Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, president, Maharishi Solar Technology. Central Electronics Limited (CEL) has already started work on third-generation DSSCs. For this, it is collaborating with dye cell inventor professor Graetzel of Switzerland-based EPFL. IIT and some national labs are also working towards improving solar cell technologies, informs Dr V.K. Kaul, general manager, Solar Photovoltaic Group, CEL. As mentioned before, in India, most expensive raw material for solar cells. Also, these dont require direct fall of sunlight. Whether the sun is rising or going down, these still produce electricity. In India, thin-film capacity is available only with Moser Baer. Thin-film solar cells, however, have some inherent problems. There is a phenomenon called light-induced degradation and efficiency is half that of crystalline Si. So to cater to a particular application, more space is needed for the same power output. Crystalline-Si is almost fully developed. The only thing needed is to reduce the cost of production through increase in output and efficiency of cells. Right now, the life of a crystalline PV module is more than 25 years. Thin-film solar cells may be based

Concentrating solar cells

Researchers in the field of photovoltaics are faced with the challenge of increasing the efficiency of the conversion process while reducing the cost significantly. The solution with the highest cost reduction potential is concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), where the cost is reduced by replacing the expensive PV cell material with lower-cost optical systems covering the receiver aperture. Concentrating solar cells use a lens to concentrate light and increase efficiency. In recent years, multijunction III-V concentrator solar cells with efficiencies greater than 40 per cent under concentration became available. This situation led to an intense development work on CPV system technology with the result that several of the first market-ready CPV products were installed in power plants in 2008. The technology has not established a footprint in the Indian market yet. majority of manufacturers are using crystalline-Si technology. It is a very old and time-tested technology. Thinfilm is a good technology but not fully developed for commercial applications and needs more time and R&D to make it better. Thin-film cells are less expensive. The cost of manufacturing them is less as they require less siliconthe on amorphous Si, CiS/CiGS or CdTe material. For amorphous-Si cells, there is scope for making them multijunction. Also, there are prospects for mixing up of materials and putting on different layers. Amorphous-Si results in better efficiency and less degradation. CiGs has almost the same scope. Stability and uniformity of the layer application are the areas of research. CdTe is a poisonous substance, so waste disposal is an issue. After serving the purpose, the modules will have to be recycled. Module efficiency of crystalline-Si has gone up from 10 per cent in 1990 to more than 13 per cent today, with the best performers averaging 17 per cent. Cell efficiency has also been on the rise and poly-crystalline cells now have an efficiency of 18 per cent and
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Technological trends
The first generation of solar cells is based on crystalline silicon (c-Si). The second generation is thin-film solar cells, either Si thin-film or non-Si thin-film (like CdTe and CiS). Dyesensitised (organic) solar cells (DSSCs) are third-generation. These are seen as a potential candidate as the raw material cost is very less.

Domination of crystalline technology is primarily because until now most applications of solar technology in India have been small-scale (traffic lights, streetlights, etc). Ravi Surapaneni, vice president, Solar
Semiconductor
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Cell efficiency has also been on the rise and poly-crystalline cells now have an efficiency of 18 per cent and mono-crystalline almost 23 per cent. S.S.N. Prasad, director and in-charge of the
Domination of crystalline technology is primarily because until now most applications of solar technology in India have been small-scale (traffic lights, streetlights, etc), says Ravi Surapaneni, vice president, Solar Semiconductor. Now, with focus on large-scale solar power plants, we can expect thin-film technology to gain market share in commercial applications. Thin-film offers cost advantage in large-scale applications even with lower efficiency. 500 MW at present. Hence two issues need to be addressed: scale and integration. Significant and immediate steps are required from the government of India to facilitate a bigger and vertically integrated manufacturing base in the country. Ramping up production capacity and levels can lead to increased economies of scale and thus higher availability of cells. Up to now the size of the Indian market has been very small as it was restricted to the off-grid mode, whereas large volumes can only be generated in MW-scale grid-connected plants. Hence Indian manufacturers have to traditionally compete with global suppliers and find global markets in demanding markets such as Germany, Spain and the US. At present, in India, there is no manufacturing capacity for polysilicon and silicon wafersthe key raw material for cell manufacturingand the country is entirely dependent on imports for the same. Indian companies enter the value chain from wafer onwards and manufacture PV cells from these and then assemble the cells into modules and so on. However, now that the Indian solar market is opening up and promises to grow rapidly, it is likely that India will see fresh investments into the upstream manufacturing as well, says K. Subramanya, CEO, Tata BP Solar. Solar cell wafer modules can be imported duty-free, whereas consumables required for making these items attract duty. This puts wafer manufacturing in India at a disadvantage. Maharishi Solar claims to be the only company in India to make wafers for

cell line, manufacturing and R&D, Solar Semiconductor

mono-crystalline almost 23 per cent. Also, with increasing standardisation of manufacturing equipment and improving efficiencies of modules, it is expected that there will be a reduction in production costs in the medium term, informs S.S.N. Prasad, director and in-charge of the cell line, manufacturing and R&D, Solar Semiconductor. The near-term target for the industry is to produce cells with improved efficiencies (19 per cent) for crystalline silicon over the next two-three years and achieve solar cell manufacturing cost of less than $1/Wp within the next two years. The primary way to achieve reduction in the cost is through rapid reduction in material cost with improved factory utilisations and yields, capacity expansion and leveraging the benefits of economies of scale, and improved efficiencies for crystalline-silicon manufacturing through technology transfer. Emphasis is on R&D for new technologies (including organic and advanced inorganic materials) that can improve system efficiency and maintain low-cost production.

Challenges for solar cell production

The main challenge before solar cell manufacturers is to reduce the cost of devices through increase in efficiency, reduction of rejection and increase in volume of production (so that overheads are spread over a large volume). The manufacturing base in India comprises cell and module manufacturing, with the bulk of the value addition taking place outside the country. Additionally, the current scale of manufacturing in India is small in comparison to global standards. To give you an example, the total manufacturing capacity of the largest solar company in 2009 was 1100 MW, whereas in India the combined capacity of all the producers put together is only around

market share for crystalline silicon and thin-film solar cells

Globally, the market share of crystalline silicon solar cells is 80-90 per cent compared to 10-20 per cent of thin-film solar cells. In India too, crystalline silicon enjoys a predominant portion (90 per cent) of the market. The installed capacity for thin-film solar cells is just ramping up in India, while there is a relatively large installed base for crystalline silicon solar cells.
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Now that the Indian solar market is opening up and promises to grow rapidly, it is likely that India will see fresh investments into the upstream manufacturing as well.
K. Subramanya, CEO, TATA BP Solar

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Cost reduction imperative to attain grid parity
Solar PV business is here to stay. The question is how soon it is going to become competitive to conventional energy, or how soon it is going to attain grid parity. There is going to be explosive growth in demand for solar PV with the attainment of grid parity. Factors affecting grid parity are: 1. Cost of materials 2. Conversion efficiency 3. Cost of conventional energy In India, all three factors are unfavourable compared to western (developed) world, but we have: 1. Huge market waiting to absorb economically reasonable energy alternatives 2. Massive pool of well-educated workforce 3. Nascent, favourable policy environment The most reliable (with more than 25 years of field-performance data) solar PV technology available today is crystalline silicon. Therefore crystalline silicon technology is most suitable for adoption in India. However, thin-film technologies have the potential for phenomenal cost reduction and should therefore be kept active on the agenda for intense R&D efforts coupled with limited manufacturing presence. The cost of crystalline silicon PV is heavily dependent on the cost of polysilicon. There were abnormal fluctuations in the price of polysilicon until recently due to excessive demand with limited supply. With the capacity augmentation efforts of existing players and entry of several new entrants, prices are now settling down to reasonable, stable levels. India is yet to see any significant, indigenous poly-manufacturing base. This has to be kept on the long-term government agenda for the growth of solar PV in India. Next to polysilicon are the raw materials and consumables. Chief among them are wafering consumables, metalisation pastes, semiconductor grade chemicals, speciality gases and moduling materials. Non-availability of local sources for proven brands of these items is another handicap for cost-reduction efforts of the PV industry. Availability of latest machinery from suppliers on turnkey basis is not an issue these days, but keeping pace with the rest of the world in the chosen technology is a difficult task without strong in-house R&D or collaboration arrangements with national or international research institutes. Since the cost of electricity is low in India (compared to the developed countries), achievement of grid parity will take longer for India (grid parity is expected by 2020). Contributed by a senior Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) official solar cells and cover all stages of the value chain of solar PV manufacturing. While the raw material for solar cells (wafers) is available in the international market, it is subject to volatility in price, which can lead to isolated incidents of pressure on availability. In the long term, having the raw material (polysilicon) production and wafers could insulate us from some of these risks. All the equipment for solar cell and module manufacturing are imported, as there is no manufacturer for solar manufacturing equipment in the country. As far as skills are concerned, there is a shortage of skills for the solar energy sector, keeping in mind that the sector is only taking off now. In the immediate future, there is going to
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be a shortage of qualified personnel at different nodes of the value chain from manufacturing to marketing to installation and commissioning and O&M as well as R&D, says Subramanya.

Production cost
The production cost of solar cells at present is in the range of 1.5 to 2 dollars per peak watt ($1.5-$2/Wp). It can be brought down through economies of scale resulting from larger volumes as well as through technological improvements leading to better yields and higher efficiency of conversion of sunlight into electrical current. This is the focus of technological research and innovation worldwide. Costs can be brought down with development of new, lower-cost and less energy-intensive techniques for
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polysilicon production and reduction in material usage. Signs of innovations and improvements in these areas are already visible. Today, silicon usage is down to 10 gm/Wp, which until a few years ago was typically 13 gm/Wp. There is significant potential for improvement of manufacturing processes in the near future. The European Union (EU) is targeting polysilicon consumption below 5, 3 and 2 gm/Wp in the short, medium and long term, respectively. According to available market research, crystalline silicon cell may touch $1.00/Wp in the EU by 2012.

V.K. Kaul, general manager, Solar Photovoltaic Group, Central Electronics Limited (CEL)
integrated manufacturing base in the country. 2. The availability of capital subsidy would ensure early capital recovery or break-even for the investors and allow the investors to commit higher investments into this sector. 3. Emphasis should be laid on R&D and innovation in solar photovoltaics, as these are one of the key drivers for the development of the solar PV industry. The salient initiatives in this direction include collaborative research amongst government, R&D institutions and industry, enhancing coordination amongst various government departments and institutes undertaking R&D, commercialisation of the developed

The target applications for solar cells developed by CEL are power plants for feeding into the grid and decentralised PV systems for rural village electrification.Dr

government incentives
The incentive structure is currently offered under the Special Incentive Package Programme of the Semiconductor Policy. The policy, which encourages semiconductor and solar PV manufacturing, offers a capital subsidy of 20 per cent for manufacturing plants in SEZs and 25 per cent for manufacturing outside SEZs. The subsidy, however, is based on the condition that the net present value (NPV) of

ing to all grid-connected consumers generating solar power will incentivise all consumers to adopt solar PV. 7. Provision of financial assistance at cheaper rates to both, the manufacturers and the developers, will also enhance the competitiveness of this sector and greatly help in achieving the grid parity through solar PV. 8. Besides large-scale applications, the government should encourage solar PV applications for small- and medium-scale niche market segments (residential, commercial and telecom).

application focus
According to Dr Kaul, the production and R&D should be targeted at rural applications where people are deprived of lightthe basic necessity of life. He feels that the best application of a PV module in rural areas is the water-pumping system. As the pumping system doesnt involve any electronics and has no battery in between, it can be repaired by any plumber in the village. The target applications for solar cells developed by CEL are power plants for feeding into the grid and decentralised PV systems for rural village electrification. Under a Rural Village Electrification (RVE) programme in Bastar area of Dantewada district in Chattisgarh, where people dont know what artificial light is, CEL provided solar light in the form of household and streetlights and portable solar lanterns. 35.5cm B&W TVs installed at central places now run on solar power without inverter.
The author is a deputy editor at EFY
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Rural electrification and telecom would be the major drivers of growth. Ajay Prakash
Shrivastava, president, Maharishi Solar Technology
the investment is at least $212 million. This has resulted in investors showing interest to set up large-scale vertically integrated manufacturing facilities. It is crucial to implement the incentive package fast so that India can establish a manufacturing base of a commendable scale. As would be seen in the future, the manufacturing base has to be adequately supported by the capital subsidy programme. technology and developing a proper framework for technology transfer, and collaboration within India and other countries to obtain the best available technology. 4. On the deployment side, it is recommended that the government extends the GBI scheme to all project developers for unlimited capacity addition in the next five years. 5. To accelerate the demand, the government should enact a Renewable Energy Law requiring all utilities to progressively increase their purchase of power (year after year) from the RE segments. 6. Government nod for net meter-

expectations from the government

1. Significant and immediate steps are required from the government of India to facilitate a bigger and vertically
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