Back in 2008, Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green-Tech Boom said the following about a nascent thin-film solar panel maker called Nanosolar:
Nanosolar (Silicon Valley) had the industry buzzing in late 2007 with a CIGS “nano-ink” that costs far less than traditional solar cells while operating at efficiencies close to that of silicon. If Nanosolar’s process lives up to its billing, the possibilities are endless: The ink can be sprayed onto foil, plastic, or glass or incorporated into cement and other building materials, conceivably turning the entire exterior of a house or office building into a solar generator. Venture capitalists have showered the company with enough cash to build one of the world’s largest PV factories, capable of producing 430 megawatts’ worth of solar cells a year, and as of early 2008 its first year’s production run was pre-sold to European installers.
Then…nothing. Nanosolar has been quiet, while established solar players like First Solar and SunPower generated most of the headlines. But today, at last, the market got some news: In what the media called its coming out party, Nanosolar announced the beginning of mass production and a few technical details of its thin film. Here’s Greentech Media’s take:
Nanosolar Boosts Cells Efficiency, Starts Mass Production
After staying mum for most of the year, Nanosolar said it has made a leap into mass production and improved its cells’ efficiency. The San Jose, Calif.-based company touted these accomplishments to show that it has made a significant progress since it first announced the start of commercial production in December 2007.
That December announcement has drawn skepticism and even ridicule from competitors and analysts because the company kept refusing to divulge details of its technology, factory capacities or production rate, and it revealed little about customers or projects that would make use of its solar panels. A Photon magazine article published in January this year criticized Nanosolar for making bold claims but having little to show for since its December 2007 announcement. Photon titled the article, “Nanosolar: No news from the world champion in blowing smoke.”
Nanosolar’s solar cells make use of a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenium (CIGS) to convert sunlight into electricity. The materials and its manufacturing process are relatively new to the market, which is dominated by crystalline silicon cells. The startup, founded in 2002, now said it already began producing its solar cells at its San Jose factory earlier this year. Nanosolar’s CEO, Martin Roscheisen, declined to disclose the capacity of the solar cell factory, though back in August 2008 he talked about expanding its manufacturing capability by building a 430 megawatts plant.
The company also said Wednesday that it has completed a 640-megawatt factory to assemble the cells into panels in Luckenwalde, Germany, though this achievement isn’t new and is timed to coincide with an inauguration ceremony attended by Germany’s minister of environment and other public officials.
Nevertheless, completing the solar panel factory is a big deal for Nanosolar, because its San Jose panel assembly line wasn’t fully automated like the one in Luckenwalde. Nanosolar wants to sell its panels to developers of large-scale power plants, so the company has to be able to produce in high volumes and do it cheaply.
Roscheisen declined to divulge the company’s production costs. He pointed out in an email that the company has signed $4.1 billion worth of contracts, and named Beck Energy, EDF Energies Nouvelles, AES Solar, Juwi and NextLight Renewable Power among its customers.
Nanosolar wouldn’t disclose when it is due to deliver on its contracts. The company said it’s currently producing its cells and panels at a rate of roughly 1 megawatt per month. The company’s panels have received certification from the International Electrotechnical Commission, a validation of the products’ performances that is crucial for winning customer acceptance.
Nanosolar has posted two white papers to describe its solar cell technology and compare its panels to those made by First Solar. Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar makes cadmium-telluride solar panels and is the largest thin-film maker in the world. Both Nanosolar and First Solar make what are commonly called thin films, which use little or no silicon.
The company said Wednesday that its solar cells could convert 16.4 percent of the sunlight that hits them into electricity. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has confirmed that efficiency, which is higher than figures provided by rival CIGS thin-film makers such as Solyndra, Miasole and HelioVolt. Engineering efficient solar cells and producing them at low costs is the goal of every solar cell maker. While companies are usually eager to divulge efficiency numbers, they tend to remain mum about their production costs.
The 16.4 percent is the best Nanosolar can produce, though it is generally higher than the average cells that roll out of production lines. The company said the medium efficiency of its cells hover between 11 percent and 12 percent. First Solar said its panels on average have 10.9 percent efficiency. First Solar also is known for being able to make panels cheaply, and has been happy to disclose that its manufacturing cost is about 87 cents per watt.
Nanosolar makes its cells by printing CIGS onto an aluminum foil in what’s commonly called a roll-to-roll process. The technology can produce cells more quickly than some of the competing methods, the company said.
The aluminum, which isn’t expensive, is conductive and serves as the bottom layer of electrode to help ferrying electricity produced by the cells, the company said. Nanosolar encases its cells with two pieces of tempered glass. This approach makes for a more durable panel and larger-sized panels compared with First Solar’s panels, which uses tempered glass for the back. Nanosolar said its manufacturing process allows it to easily make panels of different sizes and power ratings, which range from 160 watts to 220 watts. The company is introducing panels that are 2 meters in length and 1 meter wide, Roscheisen wrote in an email. First Solar’s panels are 1.2 meters by 0.6 meters, with power ratings ranging from 70 watts to 77.5 watts.
What all this means is that we’re half way there with Nanosolar. Commercial production is beginning, efficiency figures have been released, but overall cost at utility-scale production levels is still the big unknown. But it looks promising. No guarantees, but if it works, the result will be lower costs and far greater flexibility for solar power in general — and an even tougher competitive environment for existing solar panel makers.
