What are amorphous silicon thin film solar panel？

Amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels are thin-film solar cells based on amorphous silicon compounds. According to different materials, the current solar panels are divid into three categories: monocrystalline silicon solar cells, polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar panels, and amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels.

Technical advantages of amorphous silicon thin-film solar panels

1. Low production cost: Due to the low reaction temperature, it can be manufactured at a temperature of about 200 °C, so films can be deposited on glass, stainless steel plates, ceramic plates, and flexible plastic sheets, which are easy to produce in large areas and have low costs. The production cost of single-cell amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells can currently be reduced to $1.2/Wp. The cost of stacked amorphous silicon thin-film cells can be reduced to less than $1/Wp.

2. Short energy return period: an amorphous silicon solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 6% uses about 1.9 kWh of electricity for production. It takes to return the above energy after generating electricity is only 1.5-2 years.

3. Suitable for mass production: Amorphous silicon material is formed by vapor deposition, and the commonly used method is the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. This manufacturing process can be continuously completed in multiple vacuum deposition chambers, thereby realizing mass production. The primary process (PECVD) of amorphous silicon solar cells using glass substrates is similar to TFT-LCD array production. The production methods have a high degree of automation and high production efficiency.

In terms of manufacturing methods, there are the electron cyclotron resonance method, photochemical vapor deposition method, DC glow discharge method, radiofrequency glow discharge method, a sputtering method, and hot wire method. In particular, the radio frequency glow discharge method has become an internationally recognized mature technology due to its low-temperature process (~200 °C), which is easy to achieve large-area and large-scale continuous production.

4. Good high-temperature performance: When the solar cell's working temperature is higher than the standard test temperature of 25 °C, its optimal output power will decrease; the temperature of the amorphous silicon solar cell is much less affected by the temperature than the crystalline silicon solar cell.

5. Good response to weak light and high charging efficiency: The absorption coefficient of amorphous silicon material is in the entire visible light range. It has good adaptability to low light and intense light in actual use.

The above-mentioned unique technical advantages make thin-film silicon cells have broad application prospects in the civilian field, such as photovoltaic building integration, large-scale, low-cost power stations, and solar lighting sources. Due to the promising prospects of amorphous silicon thin-film cells, many companies, including Sharp, Q-Cells, etc., are entering the field of amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells on a large scale. The statistics of the entire industry are constantly being updated.