Thin film initiatives in India - time to accelerate

This paper profiles thin film initiatives in India (a-Si in particular) manufacture, system integration, exploitation in the field and in R&D a-Si PV laminates/modules (unisolar/KANEKA/RWE Schott Solar et al) seem most promising for water pumping in India. Although R&D efforts in thin films (a-Si) were initiated as early as in 1978 by Prof A.K. Barua of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), the first major manufacturing initiative came from the private sector (Suryovonics Ltd., Hyderabad) in 1988/89. This was a collaborative effort between Suryovonics Ltd. and energy conversion devices, MI, USA. The Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) soon followed by setting up a single junction a-Si (glass-in-glass-out) plant in 1992, at Gurgaon, now under upgradation with the help of IACS and BHEL (Bharath Heavy Electricals Ltd.). Attempts to productionize cdTe and CIS/CIGS technologies have not succeeded yet in India, though serious research is under way at India's premier research laboratories and Institutes of learning. One other significant manufacturing initiative that has taken shape today is from Titan Energy Systems Ltd, a private company in Hyderabad, who have a technical collaboration with RWE Schott Solar GmbH, Germany, for module making with imported (patented) double-junction coated plates (outdoor use type). It is expected that thin film technologies, particularly a-Si, would take off in the years to come as they would "provide greater flexibility in the design of large area monolithic modules" as Dr Christopher R.Wronski contends (1). The key driver to thin film initiatives would be cost reduction, suitability (especially a-Si) to India's climatic conditions and the desirability to use lighter and easily portable PV modules (on 5 mil stainless steel or plastic substrates as offered by the Unisolar Ovonic technology) in remote areas.