“The sun never sets on DuPont innovation in the solar industry,” said David B. Miller, president – DuPont Electronics & Communications. “Our customers and other stakeholders challenge us every day to deliver materials that matter in further improving efficiency, lifetime and system costs to help bring the cost of solar energy down in line with other forms of electricity. We’re making strong progress by accelerating new product developments and time to market, investing in capacity to continue to meet the growing demand and collaborating with our customers and others, while helping the world reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.”
DuPont innovations in photovoltaics are key to the manufacture of both crystalline silicon and thin film solar cells and modules. They include films, resins, encapsulation sheets, flexible substrates and photovoltaic metallizations, as well as high-performance seals for solar cell manufacturing equipment, wet-etch additives for semiconductor texturing and metallic sodium. DuPont exceeded $1 billion in revenue from sales into the photovoltaic market in 2010 – one year ahead of schedule, and has set a goal to reach $2 billion by 2014 based on a continued growth supported by new market-driven innovations that improve solar module efficiency and performance, bringing costs down in line with other forms of energy.
The most recent additions to DuPont’s innovative photovoltaic portfolio include: Four new Solamet® metallization pastes which have been developed to enhance the efficiency of solar cells, DuPont™ PV5400 series thin ionomer-based encapsulant sheets that protect sensitive and cost-effective thin film solar modules, and a new Tedlar® PV2400 polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) film offering extends the availability of long life backsheet material to better meet mounting demand in the industry. Additional information on each includes:
* Four new DuPont™ Solamet® photovoltaic metallizations to enable the industry goal for conversion efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells of greater than 20 percent in 2012;
* Solamet® PV17x, a new generation of frontside silver photovoltaic metallization pastes formulated to deliver advanced efficiency and adhesion for solar cells.
* Solamet® PV361 and PV362 photovoltaic metallization pastes that outperform conventional aluminum compositions by delivering up to 0.8 percent greater conversion efficiency for solar cells when used in Local Back Surface Field (BSF) designs.
* Solamet® PV701, the newest generation of Metal Wrap Through (MWT) technology for backside interconnected silicon solar cell designs that enable up to 0.4 percent greater conversion efficiency for solar cells.
* DuPont™ PV5400 series thin ionomer-based encapsulant sheets have been introduced to protect sensitive thin-film solar modules, while offering manufacturers new ways to cut costs, speed throughput and deliver more power over the life of each unit; and,
* Tedlar® PV2400 film and processing technology for photovoltaic backsheets. This novel technology enables backsheet to be produced in a single step and is a key element of DuPont’s strategic intent to significantly increase the availability of DuPont™ Tedlar® films and backsheet offerings and to extend the lifetime of photovoltaic modules.
DuPont is applying the power of its science to help reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. DuPont has a range of market-leading products that serve the renewable energy industry, including enabling materials for photovoltaics, biofuels, renewably sourced materials and technologies engineered to improve energy efficiency.
http://photovoltaics.dupont.com
