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Shell Solar Deutschland GmbH has opened a second PV cell manufacturing line at its factory in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The new line will produce more than six million solar cells a year with a total power generation capacity of 15 MW, more than doubling the output of the factory. In total the factory will produce 25 MW per year, the equivalent of the power consumption of about 6000 West European households.
The Gelsenkirchen factory is one of the most advanced PV cell manufacturing facilities in the world; the new technology in the second cell line allows the production of thinner and more efficient solar cells with a larger surface area, enabling the cells to absorb more light. Another feature of the facility is the wastewater treatment system, which removes fluoride -used in the manufacturing process -from the waste water, removing a pollution hazard. Shell Solar's total investment in the factory, which opened four years ago, is now more than US$34m.
The new cell line is completely automated, and the company says it will produce multicrystalline cells with an efficiency of 15%; the first cell line produces cells with 13% efficiency. The increase in efficiency is a result of new technologies that are able to produce both a textured surface using a mixture of acids, and an advanced 'passivating' technology that allows the cell to make better use of the electrons which determine the power output. The new technology reduces the unit cost per watt-peak of the cells.
F Fo or r m mo or re e i in nf fo or rm ma at ti io on n o on n S Sh he el ll l S So ol la ar r, , g go o t to o: : www.shellsolar.com
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