Innovative technology makes solar power cheaper

Grenzebach is one of the leading machine builders in the area of industrial glass finishing. Now the company is also seeking to set forward-looking highlights in the manufacture of thin-film modules.
Photo: Grenzebach

German glass machine manufacturers are announcing that the use of innovative manufacturing technology and the world’s first laminate-free, thin-film solar module will make electricity produced by photo-voltaic systems much more competitive.

As early as 2010, electricity produced using thin-film modules, is expected to cost just as much as that produced by conventional power stations. This has been announced by the Glass Technology Forum (Forum Glastechnik) within the German Engineering Federation (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau - VDMA) in its latest press release dated 31 July 2008. The glass mechanical engineers, who are members of the Forum, regard fully-automatic mass production as a tried-and-tested means of making correspondingly low-priced electricity possible.

In the implementation of this project, the German mechanical engineers can benefit from their experience in production technology involving glass products for the construction sector. For them the difference between normal double-insulation glass panes, as have been used for decades in residential, administrative and office buildings, and thin-film modules, is basically only that with the two planes bonded on top of each other, there is no organic material or inert gas, but instead solar cells.

Based on this assessment, German glass mechanical engineers have modified their techniques and made them applicable for the manufacture of solar modules. “As a result”, says Siegfried Glaser, Chairman of the Glass Technology Forum, “in future it will be possible to produce thin-film solar modules much more efficiently, faster, and as a result, also more cost effectively.”

New applications through thin-film technology

In contrast to the previously installed processes, mainly based on silicon panes, the thin-film technology enables consistent energy production even in the absence of direct sunlight. According to Glaser, this technology is therefore “exactly the right thing”, particularly for countries such as Germany. He also predicts that it will not be much longer before thin-film solar modules become fully standard components integrated in buildings and affordable for practically every building owner.

In the area of building-integrated photovoltaic systems in particular, thin-film technology could play to the strengths of its special advantages. He also said that the module not only produces energy here, but is also a component of multi-functional glazing and systems for facades, roof-covered areas and sun-screens, which can be combined with functions such as heat installation, sun protection, safety and soundproofing, light scattering, shading and design. In this connection there are hardly any limits to sizes, colours and forms.

The German glass mechanical engineers do not only offer machinery, plant and systems for individual manufacturing sectors, but also complete production lines and services from one source. On an international level they are right up there with the technology leaders, and at glasstec 2008 the visitors’ interest in their new solutions for the manufacture of photo-voltaic and solar thermal energy modules will be correspondingly great.

Technology leaders at glasstec 2008

With Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH and Lenhardt Maschinenbau GmbH, a company which is part of the Bystronic glass Group, among others in Düsseldorf, two companies, who are involved to a key extent in reshaping and redirecting the sector, will be presenting their new products and innovations. Our technology will make it possible to reduce costs per installed watt from the current level of three to five Euros to below one Euro”, explains Egbert Wenninger, member of the Grenzebach management. As a result, electricity produced using thin-film cells is competitive compared to conventionally-produced power. Wenninger assumes that the first modules will already be available on the market as early as 2010. He said that the technology developed by Grenzebach made it possible to manufacture thin-film modules on a mass-production basis. In this connection it does not matter what kind of solar cells are fitted in the module, he said.

Also suitable for all thin-film cells is the world's first laminate-free solar module developed by Lenhardt Maschinenbau GmbH. Every few seconds, reports Executive Director Bernhard Schmitt, the new technology could also be used to produce large-format modules, the production of which previously required several minutes. The new technology dispenses with the time-consuming and expensive lamination process, in which the solar cells embedded in wafer-thin plastic films are fused together with the glass plane. The otherwise customary frame is not required either. A further advantage: as the modules do not pass through the various production stages in a flat position, but vertically instead, the space required for production is markedly reduced. According to Schmitt, hardly any waste is produced in the manufacturing process, and on top of that, the modules can be recycled much more easily.

Solar energy sector growing strongly

In addition to Lenhardt and Grenzebach, so far around 120 German and foreign companies have registered as exhibitors for the photo-voltaic and solar thermal energy sectors at glasstec 2008. 28 confirmed participations have already been received for the “glass technology live” Special Show alone. The manufacturers from the module sector include among others Scheuten Solar, Schott, Schüco, Sulfurcell and Sunways, and on the production side: Applied Materials, Jenoptik, Reis Robotics as well as Ardenne ande Wagner & Co. Solartechnik GmbH, which together with other exhibitors, is presenting its new products and innovations in the area of solar thermal energy.