Helianthos
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
On 8 September 2011 Nuon announced the pilot plant would be closed down since no investor for production expansion could be found. However, on 7 May 2012 Nuon announced that Helianthos has been sold to HyET Solar.
Process technology
The process uses a temporary substrate on which flexible
reel-to-reel
) production processes and cost-efficient, abundantly available materials.
The
reflective metal
layer).
Process sequence
The key steps in the process sequence are:
- Deposit the TCO layer on a temporary metal substrate foil using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at about 500 °C (932 °F) .
- Deposit the active absorber layer (e.g. thin film silicon layer) using plasma enhanced CVD
- Deposit the reflective back contact by means of physical vapor deposition
- Pattern for monolithic interconnection
- Laminateto a permanent carrier foil
- Remove the temporary substrate foil by means of wet etching
- Confectioning, contact application and encapsulation
Applications
Using this process, flexible photovoltaic (PV)
kilowatt hour costs of solar electricity
. Further, the resulting photovoltaic laminates are lightweight, rugged and offer certain freedoms of design.
PV laminates have the potential to be used for a range of applications, including:
- Large area roofing and other large area applications to generate electricity
- Rural electrification
- Industrial applications
- Portable applications.