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Printed and Thin Film Photovoltaics and Batteries

Technologies, Forecasts and Players

New in May 2008
Show All Description Contents, Table & Figures List FAQs Pricing Related Content
New Technologies Emerging
Silicon photocells are seen in many places but the technology is limited. Crystalline silicon will never give tightly rollable devices let alone transparent ones or even low cost power generation on flexible substrates.
 
Fortunately there are many new alternatives. Proprietary nano-particle silicon printing processes are developed by companies such as innovalight and Kovio and it promises many of the photovoltaic features that conventional silicon can never achieve. It can be printed reel to reel on stainless steel or other high temperature substrates.
 
However, most of the work on the next generation of photovoltaics is directed at printing onto low cost flexible polymer film and ultimately on common packaging materials. The main contenders are currently:
  • CIGS
  • CdTe
  • DSSC
  • Organic Photovoltaics
Several companies, universities and research institutes are hard at work in different development stages of these technologies with large scale plants being built across the globe.
Report covering all aspects of the new photovoltaics
This comprehensive report gives a thorough analysis of printed and thin film photovoltaics and batteries, with detailed profiles of 57 companies working on the many different types of technologies.
 
The report covers companies, research institutes and universities that are active in developing and commercializing thin film technologies for photovoltaics and batteries. Photovoltaic technologies covered include CIGS, CdTe, DSSC, a-Si and organic photovoltaics. Learn how these technologies (each at a different stage of development and adoption) are driven forward by both government and leading companies in the field.
 
The report also describes materials (both organic and inorganic) and device structures as well as various high-speed printing technologies employed.
 
Forecasts are given by technology type for photovoltaics technologies and batteries for ten years with 20 year outlook.
 
Forecasts for PV technologies
Source: IDTechEx
 
IDTechEx find that the market for thin film photovoltaics beyond thin film silicon technologies will reach at least $3 billion in 2012 after a slow ramp up and grow rapidly after that to $8 billion in 2014. The global
solar energy market is expected to reach $34 billion in 2010 and $100 billion in 2050 and most of that latter figure is expected to be achieved by non-silicon photovoltaics.
 
Along with other manufacturing techniques, printing (or printing-like) technologies are gradually being adopted (Nanosolar, G24 Innovations in the PV sector, Power Paper, Solicore and Thin Battery technology in the batteries sector), as they can be considered to be some of the fastest, least expensive and highest volume manufacturing techniques. With printed electronics becoming more prevalent, there is an increasing need for power to supply them; printing is amenable to a large number of different types of devices with the possibility of integration (e.g. to provide onboard power etc.)
 
This report provides a comprehensive list of key companies that are active in each of the thin film photovoltaic and battery technologies. Compiled and analyzed by Dr Harry Zervos, technology analyst with IDTechEx, company profiles are given along with 20 year forecasts for the growth of the market share of these technologies. Dr Bruce Kahn, consultant and academic, gives a thorough analysis of the science and technology behind thin film photovoltaics and batteries, as well as a comparison of different high-speed printing techniques.
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1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE
2.1.Photovoltaics forecasts 2008-2028
2.2.Batteries forecasts 2008-2028
3.BATTERIES
3.1.Introduction
3.1.Important milestones in battery history
3.1.Internal structure of Power Paper Battery.
3.2.Diagram of the operation of a battery
3.2.Printed battery product and specification comparison
3.2.History
3.3.Structure
3.3.Printed battery materials comparison.
3.3.Discharge characteristics of a Power Paper STD-3 printed battery
3.4.Enfucell SoftBattery™
3.4.The half cell and overall chemical reactions that occur in a Zn/MnO2 battery
3.4.Key Products in Printed Batteries Industry
3.5.Principles and Operation
3.5.Discharge rate, current, and load.
3.5.The Cymbet EnerChip™
3.6.Flexion ™
3.6.Parameter ranking for different battery chemistries
3.6.Supercapacitors supplement or rival batteries?
3.7.Thin Film Batteries - key companies
3.7.Battery characteristics
3.7.LiTE«STAR™.
3.7.1.Power Paper
3.7.2.Thin Battery Technologies Inc.
3.7.3.Enfucell
3.7.4.Cymbet Corporation
3.7.5.Solicore
3.7.6.Infinite Power Solutions (IPS)
3.7.7.Excellatron
3.8.Thin-film solid-state batteries by Excellatron
4.PHOTOVOLTAICS
4.1.Introduction
4.1.Average Potential electricity production with photovoltaics
4.1.Comparison of the power conversion technologies of different types of solar cell technologies
4.2.Important milestones in the development of photovoltaic cells
4.2.Worldwide PV Shipments 1988-2004
4.2.History
4.3.Progress of confirmed research-scale photovoltaic device efficiencies, under AM 1.5 simulated solar illumination, for a variety of technologies
4.4.Progress in power conversion efficiency for a-Si, polymer, and small molecule photovoltaic cells
4.5.Comparison of the efficiency (in arbitrary units, since no spectral mismatch correction was performed) of "printed like" (doctor bladed) vs. spin-coated organic solar cells
5.COMPANY PROFILES BY TECHNOLOGY
5.1.Principles and operations
5.1.Typical a-Si p-i-n design
5.2.a-Si hydrogenation
5.2.Amorphous/nanoparticle Si
5.2.1.Introduction-Brief Description of technology
5.3.Amorphous /nanoparticle Si - Key Companies
5.3.United Solar Ovonics thin film amorphous silicon cell configuration
5.3.1.Sharp
5.3.2.United Solar Ovonics
5.3.3.Mitsubishi Heavy industries
5.3.4.Kaneka
5.3.5.Q-cells (SONTOR and VHF-Technologies SA)
5.3.6.Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd.
5.3.7.ersol Solar Energy AG
5.3.8.Innovalight
5.4.CdTe
5.4.Kaneka semi-translucent PV module
5.4.1.Introduction-Brief Description of technology
5.5.CdTe Key Companies
5.5.FES F-WAVE
5.5.1.First Solar
5.5.2.Calyxo
5.5.3.AVA Solar
5.5.4.PrimeStar Solar
5.5.5.Matsushita Battery Industrial Co., Ltd.
5.6.CIGS - CIS
5.6.Innovalight Cell
5.6.1.Introduction-Brief Description of technology
5.7.CIGS - Key Companies
5.7.CdTe thin film solar cell
5.7.1.Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc.
5.7.2.Avancis
5.7.3.DayStar Technologies
5.7.4.Global Solar Energy
5.7.5.HelioVolt
5.7.6.Honda Soltec Co., Ltd.
5.7.7.Johanna Solar Technology
5.7.8.Miasole
5.7.9.Nanosolar
5.7.10.Odersun
5.7.11.Showa Shell Sekiyu
5.7.12.Solibro
5.7.13.Solyndra
5.7.14.Sulfurcell
5.7.15.Würth Solar
5.8.DSSC
5.8.Schematic representation of a CIGS thin film solar cell
5.8.1.Introduction-Brief Description of technology
5.9.DSSC - Key Companies
5.9.Ascent Solar's Flexible Products
5.9.1.G24 Innovations
5.9.2.Dyesol
5.10.Organic Photovoltaics
5.10.Honda Soltec's manufacturing facility
5.10.1.Introduction - Brief Description of technology
5.11.Organic Photovoltaics - Key Companies
5.11.Model and design of Johanna Solar's production facility in Brandenburg
5.11.1.Konarka
5.11.2.Plextronics
5.11.3.Solarmer
5.11.4.Heliatek
5.12.Research Institutes/Universities involved with thin film photovoltaic technologies
5.12.Parts of Nanosolar's module manufacturing process
5.12.1.AIST - National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
5.12.2.Arizona State University
5.12.3.Colorado State University
5.12.4.École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
5.12.5.Florida Solar Energy Centre
5.12.6.Fraunhofer ISE
5.12.7.Helsinki University of technology (TKK)
5.12.8.IMEC
5.12.9.Imperial College London
5.12.10.Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
5.12.11.KAIST - Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
5.12.12.Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
5.12.13.Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
5.12.14.National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
5.12.15.University of Delaware - Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC)
5.13.The POGO designer bag produced by Berlin manufacturer Bagjack
5.14.Würth Solar's production plant, CISfab in Schwäbisch Hall
5.15.Dyesol's Dye Solar Cells interconnected and integrated into modules (tiles).
5.16.Konarka's Power Plastic®
5.17.The Tsukuba Center Solar Power Plant
5.18.Transparent dye solar module manufactured at Fraunhofer ISE with a screen printing procedure using glass frit technology.
5.19.Schematic layer structure of a pentacene-C60 tandem organic solar cell
6.APPLICATIONS
6.1.Applications of printed batteries
6.1.Patents containing the terms RFID and Battery
6.1.Applications of printed batteries by vendor
6.2.Technical differences between Active and Passive RFID technologies
6.2.Active RFID patents
6.2.Batteries
6.2.1.Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
6.2.2.Smart Cards
6.2.3.Iontophoretic Devices
6.2.4.Other Devices
6.3.Photovoltaics
6.3.Schematic diagram of PowerCosmetics Micro-electronic patch
6.3.Summary of functional capabilities of Active and Passive RFID technologies
6.3.2.Building integrated solar electric power
6.3.3.Solar Chargers
6.3.4.Military applications
6.3.5.Other applications
6.4.Some of the manufacturers that provide printed batteries for smart card applications
6.4.Estee Lauder Perfectionist Power Correcting Patch
6.5.Anti-wrinkle demonstration
6.5.Photovoltaic applications by vendor
6.6.Audio paper capable of recording and playing back audio
6.7.Hasbro Thin-Tronix™ Poster Phone and Poster Radio
6.8.PowerFilm AA Charger
6.9.Two wire photovoltaic fiber concept
7.FUTURE TRENDS AND FORECASTS BY TECHNOLOGY
7.1.World market for Photovoltaics in 2008
7.1.Thin film technologies Market Share and Module Costs
7.2.Types of printed/thin film photovoltaics beyond silicon compared, with examples of suppliers
7.2.The 1500 organisations tackling printed and potentially printed devices and their materials
7.3.Market size for thin film photovoltaic technologies beyond silicon technologies % of the market that is printed and flexible
7.4.Potential division of technologies in the thin film sector
7.5.Market size for thin film batteries % of the market that is printed and flexible
APPENDIX 1: PRINCIPLES AND OPERATION
APPENDIX 2: MATERIALS
APPENDIX 3: PRINTING/PATTERNING TECHNIQUES
APPENDIX 4: IDTECHEX PUBLICATIONS AND CONSULTANCY
APPENDIX 5: GLOSSARY
TABLES
FIGURES
 

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Thin film photovoltaics beyond thin film silicon technologies will reach $3 billion in 2012

Report Statistics

Pages 273
Tables 27
Figures 45
Companies 57
Forecasts to 2028
 

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