An engineering approach to reduction of direct costs in the manufacture of a-Si photovoltaic modules

Author

O´Dowd, J.G. ; Wilkins, G.F. ; Willing, F.S. ; McVeigh, J.J. ; Jansen, K.W. ; Cunningham, D.W. ; Poplawski, C.B. ; Steiger, R.P. ; Kloss, T.J.

Author_Institution

Solarex Corp., Newton, PA, USA

fYear

1988

fDate

1988

Firstpage

1357

Abstract

A structure that allows for the smooth transfer of technology from research and development to a productive manufacturing line is outlined. The structure is composed of six basic parts-manpower specialization, process control and documentation, product simplification, lot tracking, commitment to quality, and controlled experimentation. Each of these parts is essential for the system to become an effective tool for producing a reliable, low-cost product.

Keywords

amorphous semiconductors; economics; elemental semiconductors; silicon; solar cells; a-Si photovoltaic modules; amorphous Si; controlled experimentation; costs reduction; engineering approach; lot tracking; manpower specialization; manufacture; process control; product simplification; quality; solar cells; Costs; Documentation; Energy conversion; Failure analysis; Large-scale systems; Manufacturing; Manufacturing processes; Photovoltaic systems; Process control; Reliability engineering; Research and development; Solar power generation; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1988., Conference Record of the Twentieth IEEE

Conference_Location

Las Vegas, NV, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1988.105927

Filename

105927