Solar Frontier
Parent Showa Shell Sekiyu | | |
Website | www |
---|
Solar Frontier Kabushiki Kaisha is a Japanese
Background
Solar Frontier's parent company Showa Shell Sekiyu had been involved with solar energy since 1978. Production on a commercial scale of crystalline silicon modules for solar cells began in 1983, and research on CIS (copper-indium-selenium) technology began in 1993.[2]
Manufacturing plants
Solar Frontier has manufacturing plants in Miyazaki Prefecture,[3] where it develops and manufactures CIS solar panels, that combine CIGS and CIGSe materials. The company emphasizes the fact that it uses neither cadmium (Cd) nor lead (Pb) for its cells.[4] CIGS technology often uses a thin (< 50 nm) CdS buffer layer, and the semiconductor material of rival CdTe-technology itself contains the toxic cadmium (Cd), while conventional crystalline silicon modules use a lead-containing solder material.[5]
The company's largest plant is located at Kunitomi and has been operating since its soft opening in February, 2011, with a production capacity of close to 1 GW per year (900 MW).[6]
In April 2015, Solar Frontier completed the construction of its fourth production plant, the 150-megawatt Tohoku Plant, in
CIS technology
CIS stands for the key ingredients
See also
- Copper indium gallium selenide solar cells(CIGS technology)
- Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS material)
- List of CIGS companies
- Solar power in Japan
- Thin film solar cell
References
- ^ Business Week Company Overview of Solar Frontier K.K. Retrieved on September 26, 2012
- ^ Solar Frontier About Us Retrieved on October 3, 2012
- ^ Solar Frontier Solar Frontier Opens “Miyazaki Solar Park” October 1, 2010 Retrieved on September 26, 2012
- ^ "CIS – Ecology". Solar Frontier. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
- ^ Werner, Jürgen H. (2 November 2011). "TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES" (PDF). postfreemarket.net. Institute of Photovoltaics, University of Stuttgart, Germany - The 21st International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering Conference 2011 Fukuoka, Japan. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ Robert Crowe (27 April 2011). "Solar Frontier Opens Largest Thin-film Plant in the World". RenewableEnergyWorld.com.
- ^ a b "Solar Frontier's Tohoku Plant Begins Commercial Production". Solar Frontier. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Solar Frontier Completes Construction of the Tohoku Plant". Solar Frontier. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- .