Why haven't other methods succeeded in producing low cost CIS PV for the power generation market?
Although the raw materials in CIS films are much less expensive than silicon wafers, they must still possess high electronic quality to be efficient. Prior methods either produce poor cells, or are manufactured slowly in expensive equipment. HelioVolt's FASSTTM process produces high quality modules at astonishing rates.
Can the FASSTTM process make custom products for architectural market customers?
Yes. The process is uniquely suited to it and the production line can be reconfigured for such products quickly. Architects tell us this is an absolute requirement that existing producers have been unable to meet.
Why can't low price make up for low efficiency?
If low cost could fully compensate for low efficiency, amorphous silicon would have displaced crystalline silicon long ago. The history of the market tells us low cost alone is not enough, and that $/W is not a figure of merit that matches buyer behavior, since it neglects reliability and undervalues performance. We believe that to replace silicon as the dominant solar technology takes comparable efficiencies (10% +) and reliability (20+ years lifetime) at a lower manufacturing cost (1/2 or less), and that is what HelioVolt can deliver.
Why won't super low cost plastic or "paint on" PV succeed in the power generation market?
Your house's windows aren't made of plastic because it isn't rugged enough for long-term outdoor exposure. These materials have low efficiency (4%-5% in the laboratory, lower than amorphous silicon), short lifetimes (currently less than 1 year), and cannot survive the elements. They are unlikely to get UL certification (which requires resistance to 1" hail) without glass as a protective surface. Even if it were free, it is costly and troublesome to replace.
Why not use tracking or concentrating PV arrays?
In the laboratory intense sunlight increases cell voltage at constant temperature, but in the real world it also heats up the cells more, which in turn reduces their voltage. The net result in practice is no improvement in system efficiency. Concentrators are not effective all day unless they track the sun. Tracking systems, whether for concentrators or flat panels, increase the total system cost and complexity, reducing reliability and adding maintenance expenses that result in no net cost advantage.
Why can't crystalline silicon producers reduce manufacturing costs to below $1/Wp quickly?
More than $1/W of the current cost of silicon solar modules is for the silicon wafers that go into them. Silicon mining and purification is already a huge, mature global business that is far down its learning curve, and further reductions are more likely to be incremental. Silicon solar modules have much less "value add" than integrated circuits, so the PV industry generally gets the IC industry's scraps. It is likely that as the world economy recovers, demand for both PV and IC's will rise, and the cost of silicon will rise. Despite being the world's best understood semiconductor, progress on finding ways to reduce the costs of PV modules based on silicon has been slow and steady.
What will be the fastest growing segment of the PV market in the next ten years?
The grid-connected segment in industrial countries has been the fastest growing segment recently (this segment in the US grew 60%+ last year). The vast majority of this was retrofit installations on existing homes and buildings. We believe the market for Building Integrated PV (BIPV) modules incorporated as building materials (roofing, glazing, curtain walls) in new construction will grow faster and soon overtake the retrofit market.
Will a shortage of indium limit the production of CIS PV modules?
Not in any material way. The much publicized “indium shortage” has reached investment scam status, but we do not believe indium supply will present any impediment to HelioVolt’s growth. We estimate that current known reserves of indium could be exhausted in no less than 66 years which might limit production of CIS PV to 400GW, several hundred times the current total world PV market for all technologies. For more information see “Copper Indium Selenides and Related Materials for Photovoltaic Devices” by Billy J. Stanbery, CRC Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Sciences 2002 23, pp. 73-117, and the references therein.