Techno-economic analysis of three different substrate removal and reuse strategies for III-V solar cells: Techno-economic analysis for III-V solar cells

• Published in: Progress in photovoltaics 2016-05, Vol.24 (9)
• Main Authors: Ward, J. Scott, Remo, Timothy, Horowitz, Kelsey, Woodhouse, Michael, Sopori, Bhushan, VanSant, Kaitlyn, Basore, Paul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: epitaxy; GaAs; III-V; MATERIALS SCIENCE; solar cells; SOLAR ENERGY; substrates
• ISSN: 1062-7995; 1099-159X
• DOI: 10.1002/pip.2776

The high cost of wafers suitable for epitaxial deposition of III-V solar cells has been a primary barrier to widespread use of these cells in low-concentration and one-sun terrestrial solar applications. A possible solution is to reuse the substrate many times, thus spreading its cost across many cells. We performed a bottom-up techno-economic analysis of three different strategies for substrate reuse in high-volume manufacturing: epitaxial lift-off, spalling, and the use of a porous germanium release layer. The analysis shows that the potential cost reduction resulting from substrate reuse is limited in all three strategies--not by the number of reuse cycles achievable, but by the costs that are incurred in each cycle to prepare the substrate for another epitaxial deposition. The dominant substrate-preparation cost component is different for each of the three strategies, and the cost-ranking of these strategies is subject to change if future developments substantially reduce the cost of epitaxial deposition.