On the Path to SunShot. The Role of Advancements in Solar Photovoltaic Efficiency, Reliability, and Costs

Woodhouse, Michael; Jones-Albertus, Rebecca; Feldman, David; Fu, Ran; Horowitz, Kelsey; Chung, Donald; Jordan, Dirk; Kurtz, Sarah

doi:10.2172/1253983

Cited by 70 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…For PV, there are also potential area-based economies of scale for system costs that scale with module count (e.g., installation labor costs). Indeed, this has been observed in comparing labor, electrical, and racking cost per watt for installing 60-cell modules and larger, 72-cell modules [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

An Analysis of the Cost and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems as a Function of Module Area

Horowitz

Silverman

et al. 2017

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We investigate the potential effects of module area on the cost and performance of photovoltaic systems. Applying a bottom-up methodology, we analyzed the costs associated with mc-Si and thin-film modules and systems as a function of module area. We calculate a potential for savings of up to $0.04/W, $0.10/W, and $0.13/W in module manufacturing costs for mc-Si, CdTe, and CIGS respectively, with large area modules. We also find that an additional $0.04/W savings in balance-of-systems costs may be achieved. However, these savings are dependent on the ability to maintain efficiency and manufacturing yield as area scales. Lifetime energy yield must also be maintained to realize reductions in the levelized cost of energy. We explore the possible effects of module size on efficiency and energy production, and find that more research is required to understand these issues for each technology. Sensitivity of the $/W cost savings to module efficiency and manufacturing yield is presented. We also discuss non-cost barriers to adoption of large area modules. v This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at www.nrel.gov/publications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

An Analysis of the Cost and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems as a Function of Module Area

Horowitz

Silverman

et al. 2017

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“…We use NREL's module cost model to calculate module cost and minimum sustainable price (MSP) (see Refs. [8][9][10][11] for a description of MSP). The module MSP is input into NREL's system cost models for residential, commercial, and utility scale systems 29 to evaluate total system cost.…”

Section: D-hvpe Iii-v Solar Cell Cost Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

III-V-Based Optoelectronics with Low-Cost Dynamic Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

et al. 2018

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Silicon is the dominant semiconductor in many semiconductor device applications for a variety of reasons, including both performance and cost. III-V materials have improved performance compared to silicon, but currently they are relegated to applications in high-value or niche markets due to the absence of a low-cost, high-quality production technique. Here we present an advance in III-V materials synthesis using hydride vapor phase epitaxy that has the potential to lower III-V semiconductor deposition costs while maintaining the requisite optoelectronic material quality that enables III-V-based technologies to outperform Si. We demonstrate the impacts of this advance by addressing the use of III-Vs in terrestrial photovoltaics, a highly cost-constrained market.Silicon as a semiconductor technology is beginning to run into significant technical limits. The death of Moore's Law has been predicted for decades, but there is now clear evidence that transistor size limits have been reached, and improvements are only being realized through increases in complexity and cost. Si is also rapidly approaching the practical limit for solar conversion efficiency with current best performance sitting at 26.6% 1 . In contrast to Si, III-V materials such as GaAs and GaInP have some of the best electronic and optical properties of any semiconductor materials. III-Vs have higher electron mobilities than Si, enabling transistors operating at high frequencies for wireless communication applications, and direct bandgaps that lead to extremely efficient absorption and emission of light. These materials appear, among other places, in power amplifiers that enable transmitting and receiving capabilities in cell phones, as high-value space-based photovoltaic (PV) panels, and in light emitting diodes (LEDs) for general illumination applications with nitride-based III-V. III-V PV devices hold record conversion efficiencies for both single 2 and multi-junction 1 solar cell devices, as well as one-sun modules 1 . Unlike Si, they can be quite thin and flexible while maintaining high conversion efficiency; they can reject heat, permitting them to operate at lower temperatures in real world outdoor conditions 3 ; and they have lower temperature coefficients 4 , resulting in minimal performance degradation when their temperature does rise, which can reduce the requirements on heat sinking 3 and allow solar cells to be in intimate contact with rooftops. III-V materials are readily integrated in multijunction solar cell structures that increase efficiency far beyond single junction limits. These qualities allow III-V PV modules to produce more energy than a similarly power rated silicon PV module over the course of their lifetime. 3The development of III-V materials and devices historically focused on quality, efficiency, and performance, with less regard to the cost of the epitaxial growth, and III-Vs lacked a driving force like Si CMOS to methodically push manufacturing significantly costs lower. So, while the performance of III-V devices is unden...

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“…Thanks to continuous cost reduction in PV panels and the balance of systems (BOS) in the last decade, the penetration level of a PV system has increased with rapid growth in renewable energy market [1]. Nevertheless, in order to further increase the penetration level of the PV system, it is still required to improve its competitiveness by reducing the cost of energy by a factor of around three as recommended in [2]. In order to achieve this target, many aspects need to be enhanced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Evaluation of Lifetime of Three-Level Inverters in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

Choi

Lee

2020

Energies

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The cost of the PV energy reduction is still required to increase the penetration level of PV systems in the energy market. The reliability of PV inverters is one of the important aspects to be enhanced in order to reduce the cost of PV energy, since it is closely related to the maintenance cost and the annual energy production. In this paper, the lifetime of NPC and T-type inverters, which are three-level inverter topologies that are widely used for PV systems, are comparatively evaluated with a 30 kW grid-connected PV system. It is performed by focusing on power devices since the power electronic components of both converters are the same except for the power devices. Therefore, this result can represent the comparison of the reliability performance of the NPC and T-type inverters. The power loss and temperature distributions of power devices are analyzed and their efficiencies are compared at different power levels with different switching frequencies. The lifetimes of the reliability-critical power devices in the NPC and T-type inverters are estimated, respectively with a one-year mission profile of the PV system, and the results are compared.Energies 2020, 13, 1227 2 of 14 and emphasized, since these aspects are closely related to the energy production as well as the volume and weight of the PV inverter [14]. In [14,15], the junction temperature profiles of the power devices in different single-phase PV inverter topologies are analyzed and compared. However, it is not enough to show the reliability of single-phase PV inverter topologies.The three-level inverters are attractive topologies for both high-power and low-power PV systems due to the outstanding efficiency and lower THD compared with the conventional two-level inverter [16,17]. The configurations of PV systems can be divided into an AC module, string, multi-string, and central configurations depending on the rated power of the PV system. Typically, neutral-point clamped (NPC) and T-type three-level inverter topologies are widely used for from a string inverter configuration of small power to a central inverter configuration of high power [18]. Previous research performed the evaluation of three-phase three-level inverter and converter topologies for a motor drive where the efficiency, semiconductor chip area, and harmonic machine losses were taken into account for the comparison factors of the three-level inverter and converter topologies, but the lifetime was not considered [17].In this paper, the comparative evaluation of the lifetime of three-phase NPC and T-type three-level inverters for the grid-connected PV systems is performed. Except for the power devices, the required power electronic components and applied stress on these components in both inverters are the same. Therefore, it can be expected that the lifetime of other components in both inverters are the same as each other. Therefore, the lifetime of the power device can represent the reliability comparison of the NPC and T-type inverter systems. A 30 kW grid-connected PV system is consi...

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On the Path to SunShot. The Role of Advancements in Solar Photovoltaic Efficiency, Reliability, and Costs

Cited by 70 publications

References 14 publications

An Analysis of the Cost and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems as a Function of Module Area

An Analysis of the Cost and Performance of Photovoltaic Systems as a Function of Module Area

III-V-Based Optoelectronics with Low-Cost Dynamic Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Comparative Evaluation of Lifetime of Three-Level Inverters in Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

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