Challenges and Opportunities of modern PV manufacturing

The global PV module production capacity in 2014 is assumed to be about 60 GW with 90% based on c-Si and 10 % on thin film technology. Since the demand of module is expected to be about 50 GW in 2014 there are some challenges and opportunities of modern PV manufacturing. The key is the implementation of innovative technologies into existing production environment and still meeting the challenging production cost requirements despite that prices have been stabilizing since summer 2013. Presently numerous manufacturers announced the implementation of differing solar cell concepts, based on an evolutionary improvement of the standard cell type, aiming towards higher efficiencies in mass production. This trend, resulting in an increasing diversification, also creates new demands with regard to the manufacturing equipment, which have to be met by the equipment manufacturers. The implementation of new techniques and new equipment aims at lower production costs per Wp due to increased efficiency. On the other hand the obtained efficiency gain only results in a quite limited window for increased processing costs or invest in new equipment.