Europeans on a Course for Innovation

Photovoltaic manufacturers begin the race to catch up with Asian forerunners.

In 2009, it was primarily Chinese photovoltaic producers who provided the excitement: They came up with more efficient technology, massively reduced their costs, thus capturing shares in the market. Europe’s solar industry is now catching up: Many very promising techniques should soon be ready for series production.

The latest solar success report does not come from China or the USA, but rather from Holland: In December, the Norwegian solar corporation REC and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) produced a solar cell from multicrystalline silicon with an efficiency degree of 17 percent in a pilot line of the institute. As a result, the cooperative has reclaimed the efficiency record for this technology. In September, they had to temporarily concede the efficiency crown to Chinese solar producer, Suntech Power, who achieved 16.53 percent with their multis and just exceeded the old peak value of REC/ECN of 16.4 percent.

The new record module is made from so-called metal wrap through (MWT) cells, with which the power connections are located on the reverse side. This means the front is less shaded and the cells can be completely wired up to one module on the reverse. This increases the degree of efficiency and simplifies production, which saves costs. “We manufactured the module in an industry-oriented environment. The next step would be commercial production,” says ECN managing director Ton Hoff.

With the new MWT module, European researchers and engineers have managed an impressive return to the efficiency degree race. So that solar energy can compete with conventional energy, the industry must considerably further reduce the costs for solar technology. However, the latest important technical achievements have been made by predominantly Asian and USA manufacturers. Top-class Chinese producers, such as Suntech and Yingli, have reduced manufacturing costs for crystalline silicon modules to well below the two Dollar mark. Thin-film market leader, First Solar, is already producing its modules, which are based on cadmium telluride, for 0.85 Dollar – far more cost-efficient than the competition. Europe’s solar companies, on the other hand, did not present many innovations in the crisis year of 2009, considerably losing their shares in the market as a result.