: CIGS Turnkey Solution WONIK IPS now offers the most advanced CIGS solar cell module turnkey production line, fully integrated from raw materials to modules, along with its robust guarantee for customers worldwide, who wish to break into CIGS solar cell module manufacturing business. Our technology was developed in collaboration with Samsung SDI and several other domestic equipment companies since 2008. At the beginning of 2013, a pilot-line was successfully launched and by the end of the same year, world record module power of 231W with the largest CIGS module area of 902 x 1602 mm2 was demonstrated along with its record efficiency of 16% (these power, module area, and efficiency are in a similar range of today modules made of multi-crystalline Si). Since then, this pilot-line was fully tested to demonstrate its production capability with average module efficiency of over 15 % and a yield of over 95%. With WONIK IPS expertise in core manufacturing equipment for CIGS fabrication, intensive process investigation and development at Samsung SDI (now acquired by WONIK IPS through IP licenses) along with the continuous effort in R&D at WONIK IPS, the customer can rest assured the investment is secured both in the present and in the future.

Development Milestones R&D start 2008.01

17.9% (300x300 mm2) World Record Module Efficiency 2012.09

14.1% module (200x200 mm2) 2009.12 2009.06 14.0% cell (5x5 mm2)

2011.05 15.5% (200x200 mm2)

2012.11 Pilot line set up (902x1602 mm2)

16.0% (902x1602 mm2) TÜV confirmed World Record Module Power 2013.12 2014.04 Confirmed pilot production

Why CIGS Technology? We listed below the key reasons for moving forward to CIGS technology even though crystalline Si (c-Si) technology is still currently dominating the current terrestrial photovoltaic (PV) market.

Higher Power in the Field Because CIGS has a wider electronic bandgap compared to c-Si, it has a higher tolerance with regard to the increase in temperatures. This makes CIGS modules less prone to the performance degradation caused by the rise in the module temperature in the field. In technical terms, the so-called Power Temperature Coefficient (PCT) is smaller in CIGS compared to c-Si modules. Although this benefit can be seen on most parts of the world, ones can expect higher potential for CIGS in the sun belt area where sunshine is abundant throughout the year but the temperature tends to be higher there as well. Output Power/Rated Power vs. Temperature

Average Output/Rated Power Higher output for the same power label

Furthermore, CIGS cells are generally more sensitive to light at low incident angles compared to c-Si cells. Plus, for the same rated power, CIGS modules typically generate higher voltage compared to c-Si modules. Based on the two reasons above and the fact that PV systems require certain minimum voltage to start electricity generation, the CIGS PV system will wake up earlier at dawn and sleep later at dusk compared to the c-Si PV system, generating more energy for the same rated power.

Higher Added Value

Value Chain

Compared to c-Si module manufacturing, the value chain from raw

c-Si

materials to modules is much simpler for CIGS. For c-Si, prior to Polysilicon

Ingot

Wafer

Cell

Module

solar cell fabrication, Si needs to be refined into polysilicon, grown into a crystalline ingot, and finally sawn into wafers. On the other hand, CIGS only requires glass substrates and raw materials mostly

CIGS

in forms of elemental or compound precursors. Consequently, the Glass/Precursors

Cell/Module

process of manufacturing CIGS cell/module is considered a higher value adding process compared to c-Si cell/module manufacturing.

High added value

Higher Potential for Cost Reduction Because CIGS is a thin film based technology, it requires much less semiconductor raw materials as well as power consumption during the cell production compared to c-Si. This can readily be visualized by comparing the active layer of ~2 µm thick for CIGS to the wafer thickness of ~200µm for c-Si solar cells. This provides a greater room for cost-reduction in CIGS module manufacturing.

c-Si

Module Cost Breakdown

CIGS

High potential for cost reduction On the other hand, even though there may be a concern regarding the availability of indium (required for CIGS cell production), an investigation based on the estimate of indium reserve revealed that it is sufficient for up to 10 TWp of CIGS solar cells production. This is not to mention the on-going R&D which will bring down the consumption of indium combining with new technologies for indium substitution in CIGS based solar cells.

Huge Market Potential

As CIGS modules are less prone to the rise in temperatures in the field compared to c-Si modules, CIGS is suitable for installation in more area worldwide compared to c-Si . On top of that, with a solid black appearance inherently attributed to the thin film module technology, CIGS modules can be more preferable for the application where an aesthetical appearance is a big part of the consideration such as in the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) application. Finally, thin film modules are excluded from the anti-dumping measure imposed by the United States and Canada on solar cell modules made in China and Taiwan, this provides a larger market for thin film based solar cell technologies at least at this time.

Current Barrier to CIGS Manufacturing & Our Solutions The question you might be asking at this point is probably: if the CIGS technology has such great potential and benefits, why hasn’t it been widely implemented especially when compared to the c-Si technology? One of the main reasons has been from the lack of proven large-scale production equipment . Moreover, the thin film technology also requires a more stringent control and process expertise to obtain high and reproducible module performance compared to the conventional c-Si technology. Finally, although a higher value adding process of fabricating CIGS modules translates into greater potential for investment return, it also requires higher initial investment s especially if the business was to be started from scratch. These are the key reasons why CIGS and thin film PV manufacturing in general is still limited to small number of players around the world.

WONCIGS turnkey solution addresses all the obstacles above.

combine the expertise from Samsung in thin film display industry and

Wonik’s proprietary core equipment design to address the first issue mentioned above. The process control and process technology were studied intensively at Samsung during the past years to ensure high performance productivity and reproducibility. This know-how is now acquired by Wonik from Samsung and transferred directly to our customers. Finally, the turnkey business means that our customers do not need to start from scratch, all the initial R&D required before the starting of mass production is already conducted by Samsung and Wonik IPS. This minimizes the time and investments and provides the most efficient way to get into CIGS manufacturing business.

More Advantages by

Environmental Friendly Product Cd-free Technology

Cost Effective Design Large-Sized High-Power Module with Frameless Edge-Sealing Technology

High Throughput Process Selenization of 120-300 0.9 x 1.6 m2 Glass Substrates Simultaneously

Not only that

provides solutions to the common difficulties mentioned above, we are also striving for better process and

final product. Our process utilizes no Cadmium, which is commonly used to form a buffer layer in a CIGS solar cell, without sacrificing cell performance. Samsung expertise in making large-sized thin film displays on the other hand allows us to design and fabricate largesized 0.9 x 1.6 m2 high-power CIGS modules comparable to those of crystalline Si . This provides us with further advantages over regular thin film module technology both in terms of the production throughput and module installation cost: less number of modules to be installed for the same rated PV system and module size similar to crystalline Si allowing us to share same parts as the widely installed crystalline Si PV system. Furthermore, we utilize frameless edge-sealing technology that helps bring the production cost down without compromising the durability. Finally, the limited productivity commonly associated with the batch selenization process was overcome by developing a high capacity selenization furnace, which can process 120-300 sheets of large sized glass substrates simultaneously.