Production of SA’s superthin solar innovation delayed

The start of production of the South African super-thin solar-panel innovation has been delayed by more than six months due to technical challenges with the equipment at the purpose-built German plant.

Production was expected to start earlier this year, but is now anticipated to kick off in October, says a source close to the project.
The solar panel is the brainchild of University of Johannesburg (UJ) professor Vivian Alberts.

The solar panel he devised is is said to be thinner and cheaper (up to 50%) compared to products currently on the market.

Solar panels typically have a 350-micrometre-thick layer of silicon – which is the minimum requirement to absorb sunlight effectively.

However, Alberts’ invention is five micro-metres thick, combining several semiconductor materials which are as effective, if not more so, than silicon.

As Alberts’ panels use no silicon, costs are dramatically lower.

His panels make use of glass as a substrate, with molybdenum applied as back contact, followed by the core component, being a compound semiconductor comprising five elements – copper, indium, gallium, selenium and sulphide, replacing the silicon – then cadmium sulphide as a buffer layer, followed by an intrinsic zinc oxide layer and, finally, a conductive zinc oxide layer.

Engineering News