AOS Solar Inc. says it is developing Solar Silicon 4.0 technology that combines crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic efficiency with low-cost, high-throughput thin film manufacturing economics. The goal, the company says, is to achieve c-Si efficiencies while reducing the amount of required silicon by 90%, the manufacturing energy budget required to achieve each watt peak of output by 50%, and the capital equipment required by 50%.
‘Current high-efficiency silicon solar cells have a very high materials cost, and the manufacturing cost for both cells and modules is too high,’ says Anikara Rangappan, the company's CEO. ‘We think research has shown us a better way, and we are on the path to solve the volume-manufacturing challenges.’
