NREL Picks 8 Promising CdTe Projects For $2 Million Funding
Source：TaiyangNews
CTAC consortium shells out funds from the $20 million budget assigned
The US aims to exceed CdTe solar cell efficiencies of 26%, and module costs lower than $0.15/W by 2030. The CTAC consortium includes leading CdTe manufacturer First Solar. (Photo Credit: First Solar, Inc)
Key Takeaways
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NREL administered CTAC has announced 8 winning projects for $2 million funding
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The winners are working on projects to improve manufacturing processes as well as efficiency
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It sees CdTe as a promising solar technology to establish US competitiveness in the PV technology field
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has awarded $2 million funding to 8 projects to advance cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cell technology under the US government’s Cadmium Telluride Accelerator Consortium (CTAC).
NREL had invited proposals to award $2 million in funding for small projects under 3 topic areas in March 2024 (see US Issues RFP For CdTe Technology Development). It has now picked 8 following projects under 2 topic areas.
Topic Area 1: High-Efficiency Devices and New Manufacturing Processes
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Arizona State University to develop a novel transparent hole contact for CdSeTe solar cells based on the Fermi-level-pinning effect and the "remote junction" design to form a "p-n" junction with n-type absorber without any p-type doping in the device, overcoming a major challenge for CdSeTe material
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Bowling Green State University to advance bifacial photovoltaic technology by increasing the efficiency of solar energy capture from the solar panel's back surface using advanced photoluminescent nanomaterials, leading to an expected 3% to 7% increase in overall cell efficiency
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Washington State University to provide fundamental knowledge to improve the efficiency of CdSeTe-based thin-film solar cells by investigating the role of selenium and p-type dopants
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The University of Delaware for improving CdTe solar cell performance through the engineering of commercial glass to reduce module manufacturing costs
Topic 2: Characterization, Modeling, and Simulation
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Arizona State University to use correlative X-Ray Transient Spectroscopy to bridge the gap between structural defects and their energy levels
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Radiation Detection Technologies to study single crystal growth of arsenic-doped and phosphorus-doped cadmium selenium telluride (CdSexTe1-x) for fundamental material characterization with an aim to increase cell efficiency whose theoretical maximum efficiency is 32%. Single crystal samples will be processed and delivered to First Solar and Arizona State University to understand performance limitations
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Purdue University to understand atomistic defect structures and complexes related to group-V doping in CdSeTe with an aim to improve power conversion efficiency
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The University of Michigan to analyze local voltage loss in CdTe solar cells and provide a new characterization tool to quickly quantify the distribution of nonradiative recombination rates in these devices. It will help assess the effectiveness of the new material compositions to increase Voc
Established with a $20 million budget to advance promising work in the CdTe technology, CTAC aims to support projects with an aim to enable cell efficiencies exceeding 24% and module costs below $0.20/W by 2025, further to cell efficiencies of over 26% and module costs lower than $0.15/W by 2030.
It aims to develop the country’s leadership and competitiveness in CdTe technology to move away from the crystalline silicon technology that’s highly concentrated in China at present.
Formed by the Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), the CTAC is a 3-year consortium of First Solar, Toledo Solar, Sivananthan Laboratories, Colorado State University, led by the University of Toledo. However, Toledo Solar went out of business earlier this year after reaching a lawsuit settlement with First Solar (see Toledo Solar Shuts Down With Immediate Effect).