Numerous new technologies and processes are being developed at Fraunhofer ISE so that solar cells can be produced on an industrial scale faster, better and above all less expensively. Making a decision as to which approach should preferably be pursued requires not only a scientifically well-founded technology assessment, but also detailed knowledge of the associated costs. It is thus essential to have a fundamental cost analysis of both current standard processes and various new technologies and process sequences.
Thanks to direct contact with the respective process specialists, both in-house and externally, we can provide a well-founded evaluation of processes. The range extends from methods which are still being carried out on a laboratory scale and are only in the development phase to the investigation of more complex process sequences in a near-industrial pilot production environment. The findings obtained provide the basis for reliably estimating the cost structure of industrial manufacture for different solar cell structures and for different process routes.