{"id":10613,"date":"2017-03-31T10:37:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T10:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/v4.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T16:44:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T16:44:42","slug":"innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology","status":"publish","type":"technical-papers","link":"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation for optical, electrical and economic improvement of thin&#45;film PV technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Joop van Deelen &#038; Marco Barink, TNO<\/p>\n<p>Innovation in the field of thin&#45;film cells, in addition to economy of scale and the manufacturing learning curve, is an important element in keeping the price of this technology competitive. Most papers on these cells focus on their technology; however, the economic potential of the technology is also important. Of even greater significance, a realistic estimation of the potential, along with the associated costs, of advanced technology, is part of the equation for profitability. Two examples of technology \u2013 metallic grids and texturing \u2013 are given in this paper; the designs are discussed, and a brief economic analysis is presented for various scenarios of the technologies. Although the profitability of these technologies can be considerable, it is shown that one should be wary of basing decisions purely on potential and on ideal scenarios, and how the cost of a technology can turn a great prospect into a trade&#45;off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Innovation in the field of thin&#45;film cells, in addition to economy of scale and the manufacturing learning curve, is an important element in keeping the price of this technology competitive. Most papers on these cells focus on their technology; however, the economic potential of the technology is also important. Of even greater significance, a realistic estimation of the potential, along with the associated costs, of advanced technology, is part of the equation for profitability. Two examples of technology \u2013 metallic grids and texturing \u2013 are given in this paper; the designs are discussed, and a brief economic analysis is presented for various scenarios of the technologies. Although the profitability of these technologies can be considerable, it is shown that one should be wary of basing decisions purely on potential and on ideal scenarios, and how the cost of a technology can turn a great prospect into a trade&#45;off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28217,"template":"","paywall-tags":[8671],"technical-papers-categories":[2921,2930],"class_list":["post-10613","technical-papers","type-technical-papers","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","paywall-tags-premium","technical-papers-categories-photovoltaics-international-papers","technical-papers-categories-thin-film"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Innovation for optical, electrical and economic improvement of thin&#045;film PV technology - PV Tech<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Innovation for optical, electrical and economic improvement of thin&#045;film PV technology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Innovation in the field of thin&#045;film cells, in addition to economy of scale and the manufacturing learning curve, is an important element in keeping the price of this technology competitive. Most papers on these cells focus on their technology; however, the economic potential of the technology is also important. Of even greater significance, a realistic estimation of the potential, along with the associated costs, of advanced technology, is part of the equation for profitability. Two examples of technology \u2013 metallic grids and texturing \u2013 are given in this paper; the designs are discussed, and a brief economic analysis is presented for various scenarios of the technologies. Although the profitability of these technologies can be considerable, it is shown that one should be wary of basing decisions purely on potential and on ideal scenarios, and how the cost of a technology can turn a great prospect into a trade&#045;off.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PV Tech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/PV-Tech\/360525490632679\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-28T16:44:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Innovation_for_optical.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"580\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"498\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pv_tech\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pv-tech.org\/technical-papers\/innovation-for-optical-electrical-and-economic-improvement-of-thinfilm-pv-technology\/\",\"name\":\"Innovation for optical, electrical and economic improvement of thin&#45;film PV technology - 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