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A major advanced materials supplier to the aerospace, automotive and electronics markets; Huntsman Corporation is bringing its global R&D and manufacturing capabilities into the PV industry. PV-Tech speaks with Philippe Christou, Technology Director, EMEIA at Huntsman about the company and its capabilities up and down the PV supply chain. With ‘innovation’ a key focus for Huntsman, Christou covers a broad-range of technologies it can offer to the global PV industry that both help to reduce manufacturing costs and increase conversion efficiencies across c-Si and thin-film technologies.

The continued expansion and optimization of crystal growth production to reduce costs and improve yield and quality is a key focus of Femagsoft, which supplies process-oriented simulation software products to help producers design and optimize their processes. PV-Tech discusses with Arnaud de Potter, Head of Business Development at the firm what simulation software can achieve. He also focuses on the quality issues which are a key driver for the wafer producers and the industry’s drive to lower the cost per watt.

The next thin-film technology making its move to become a mainstream product is copper-indium-gallium (di)selenide (CIGS). PV-Tech talks to William Jackson, director of solar products, at key materials supplier Indium Corp. on the current ramp-up and challenges facing numerous emerging manufacturers in the CIGS space. Jackson also discusses the material supply dynamics and sputtering technology developments that are drivers to higher conversion efficiencies that differentiate CIGS from other thin-film technologies.

Heliene presents video footage of robotized assembly of its photovoltaic modules.

As the workhorse encapsulation material for the PV industry, Tedlar film from DuPont has seen a multi-phase US$295 million investment in capacity expansions. PV-Tech talks with John Odom, Global Business Director of DuPont Photovoltaic Fluoro Materials to discover how the materials supplier is meeting growing industry demand. Odom also covers the continued R&D efforts to meet ongoing need for innovative materials and importantly lower manufacturing costs for customers.

Masdar PV COO, Dr. Michael Alexander highlights market trends for a-Si thin-film, noting in this interview with PV-Tech that new developing regions such as India have market potential for off-grid applications as well as the inherent benefits of the technology in high temperature environments and low-light conditions. According to Dr Alexander, the North American Continent is showing increasing interest in this thin-film technology, especially ground-mounted utility-scale applications. He also gives an update on cell efficiencies now being achieved in volume production and partnerships for BIPV applications.

New developments in metallization processes and materials for c-Si solar cells, is pushing conversion efficiencies towards the 20% range, a significant driver in reducing the cost-per-watt and keeping c-Si technologies competitive with alternative technologies such as thin-film. PV-Tech discusses these trends and developments with Peter Brenner, Photovoltaics Global Marketing Manager, Microcircuit Materials at DuPont. Brenner discusses both evolutionary approaches as well as more advanced approaches to metallization, including selective emitters.

SunPower has become synonymous with record setting solar cells conversion efficiencies but has come under criticism for high manufacturing costs. PV-Tech talked to Richard Swanson, President and CTO about the recent global PV market as well as the thorny issue of cost competiveness for SunPower. Swanson highlights what the company is doing to remain a serious player and why SunPower’s technology remains a key differentiator in the utility market against thin-film alternatives.

Having emerged as the largest c-Si solar cell producer in 2010, JA Solar is combining high-efficiency solar cells with low-cost manufacturing. Now the company is supplying leading-edge technology in its OEM modules, which we at PV-Tech believe may be a disruptive technology move. Although Peng Fang, CEO of JA Solar didn’t quite see it that way in this interview, he did highlight the company’s three generations of solar cell R&D and growing acceptance of its OEM modules by customers. Fang also discusses solar cell shipments levels for 2010 and module capacity levels that leave little doubt that JA Solar is a key company to watch going forward.