Development of silicon solar cells and photovoltaic modules in Brazil: analysis of a pilot production

Brazil is a country that receives a large amount of solar radiation. Moreover, high quality quartz mines has been found in its territory and the country has well-established metallurgical grade silicon industries. However, PV technology is not used in large scale and there are no active solar cell f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials research (São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil) São Paulo, Brazil), 2012-08, Vol.15 (4), p.581-588
Main Authors: Moehlecke, Adriano, Zanesco, Izete
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL
MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
METALLURGY & METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING
photovoltaic modules
pilot plant
solar cells
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Brazil is a country that receives a large amount of solar radiation. Moreover, high quality quartz mines has been found in its territory and the country has well-established metallurgical grade silicon industries. However, PV technology is not used in large scale and there are no active solar cell fabs. In this context, a pilot plant to develop industrial PV technology was carried out in a Brazilian university combining education, research and industrial development. Silicon solar cell processes based on low cost chemicals and gases as well as gettering mechanisms were developed and more than 12,000 solar cells were fabricated, achieving efficiencies up to 16%, and two hundred photovoltaic modules were produced and characterized.
ISSN:1516-1439
1980-5373
1980-5373
DOI:10.1590/S1516-14392012005000084