Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) Solar Cells
Driven by the desire to replace unsustainable, toxic fossil fuel energy with a clean, inexhaustible energy source; the solar module market is expected to grow from 18.6GW in 2011 to >43GW in 2015, or $66B. Although solar technology has been in existence for more than 30 years, pure economics has prevented significant penetration in the market place. Without subsidies, solar technology is not competitive in today's energy markets and without substantial cost reductions it will remain uncompetitive.Most Solar cells are manufactured using crystalline silicon wafers. Silicon is a non-toxic, abundant material with a high energy conversion efficiency that is well-understood and aligns perfectly with renewable energy goals. However, nearly 70% of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell production cost is attributable to the silicon content. In order to achieve grid parity for mass adoption of the technology, silicon cost must be considerably reduced. Theoretical efficiency of c-Si solar cells peaks with a 25µm thick silicon wafer yet, today manufacturers are forced to use 6 - 8 times that amount due to handling limitations is c-Si solar cell manufacturing.
AstroWatt's leapfrog technologies dramatically reduce the consumption of silicon to manufacture high-efficiency c-Si solar cells. By creating an ultra-thin silicon metallic substrate, AstroWatt's breakthrough Semiconductor-on-Metal (SOM®) technology produces c-Si solar cells that are at optimum efficiency with dramatically lower costs. Strong and flexible, the AstroWatt SOM® substrate can be routinely handled in volume manufacturing using existing process and automation equipment. SOM® technology is suitable for use in both rigid and flexible c-Si modules. AstroWatt's exclusive Litho-less Local Back Contact (LBC) cell architecture was uniquely develop to enhance the efficiency of thin crystalline silicon. Together, AstroWatt's technologies enable a giant leap forward in the race to radically lower cost while driving c-Si solar cells to new benchmark efficiencies.
Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV)
Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV), an upcoming renewable market, uses optics to concentrate sunlight onto a small area of photovoltaic material. CPV cells are largely fabricated on Ge or GaAs substrates where multi-junction cells are epitaxially grown to create solar cells with efficiencies over 40%. Industry experts report that the current global installed capacity is 23MW and is expected to grow dramatically over the next several years to approximately 12.5GW by 2020. AstroWatt's core technology is ideal for manufacturing CPV cells by creating a low cost metallic foil to reduce unnecessary consumption of the expensive substrate while improving efficiency.
Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
The market for Light-Emitting Diodes (LED) has been on a rapid trajectory and is expected to continue this impressive growth reaching well over $100B in the next few years. Today, high brightness LEDs today are largely fabricated on GaN, SiC or Sapphire substrates where epitaxial layers are grown to form Multiple Quantum Wells using MOCVD. AstroWatt's proprietary substrate technology creates a low cost metallic foil with device (light reflection) and thermal dissipation advantages for improved device performance. Unnecessary consumption of the expensive substrate is eliminated and the substrate can be re-used multiple times in production with remarkable cost-savings.