M+W Zander: Solar cell factories increase tenfold their capacities until 2010

Solar cell manufacturers, machine and plant farmer are to work together on the factory of the future "solar cells ' larva in Europe ' to become in the year 2010 their world market portion to hold or even to develop be able. However up to then the manufacturing costs under two dollar per Watt of achievement should sink ". This said M+W Zander FE managing director Robert Gattereder in the context of a lecture before industry experts on the Semi Expo in Moscow. With the industry meeting he presented a concept for a ' factory of the future ' for the solar industry. Afterwards (thin section -) a solar cell factory will have increased tenfold its production capacity up to the year 2010 and to produce within the Gigawatt range (= 1000 megawatts). At present the capacities of solar cell factories still are with 80 to 100 megawatts. Gattereder: "the industry and its suppliers place before completely new challenges.Therefore should the solar cell manufacturers, the machine and the plant farmer over the requirements for 2010 together think." The market price for the achievement of solar modules at present still lies between 4,50 and 5,50 US dollar per Watt. In order to be able to become generally accepted however without subsidies and world-wide against fossil fuels, this price under two US dollar must slip. This goal is, so Gattereder, only attainable with a global yearly capacity with solar cells of expected ten Gigawatt per year. To the comparison: For the current year experts expect a yearly volume from world-wide 2.1 Gigawatt. Einsparpotenziale does not only see the M+W Zander concept in drastically increased production capacities. Parallel to it the production processes could be simplified by standardisation.Likewise possible a better utilization of energy, approximately by special, is factory-own power stations as in the semiconductor industry, as well as an optimized logistics with the en and disposal with chemicals, liquids and gases. Further saving possibilities would offer the gradual increase of the substrate sizes of at present 125 to 210 millimeters and the use of thinner wafer disks. Gattereder: "for such production processes the machines must be partly only still developed. We can transfer our experiences as a plant farmer with the building from semiconductor factories to the solar industry." The drastic raising of the production capacities in the Gigawattbereich leads according to estimations of M+W Zander in the comparison with today's solar cell factories to scale gains from annually 20 to 30 per cent. At the same time the fixed costs sink alone by the better use of the machines and plants as well as savings with the building of the factories.In addition the improvements mentioned come into factory automation and logistics, with the energy and the utilities supply. The Semi Expo CIS is an annually taking place measurement and congress meeting for representatives of the semiconductor like the solar industry. It took place on 3 and 4 October in Moscow (Russia).