Air
Products (NYSE:APD) has been selected to receive more than $1.5 million from
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under DOE’s Solar Energy Technology Program.
Air Products will use its expertise in etch and deposition science, gained from
more than 35 years’ experience in the global electronics industry, to develop
materials that could potentially result in significant cost savings for
thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers.
The objective of the DOE program is to identify and accelerate the
development of PV processes expected to improve the domestic solar market. Air
Products’ main focus will be on developing and validating an advanced radio
frequency plasma chemical vapor deposition process. The project is among 24 new
solar energy technology projects receiving $22 million in DOE funds as part of
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.
“Once developed and commercialized, these materials could be used by
thin-film PV manufacturers, whose production is expected to exceed 5 GW in the
coming years,” said Jeff Handelman, Air Products’ general manager,
photovoltaics. “If 5 GW worth of thin-film silicon manufacturing were to adopt
these additives and save more than $0.10 per watt, it would save the PV industry
about $600 million annually.”