The development came after the Los Angeles

fight-emoting polymer Department of Water and Power (LADWP)

.evised its solar incentive program and offered
development centre in UK Los Angeles Manufacturing Credits (LAMCs)
:owards solar photovoltaic equipment built by
Cambridge Display Tec~olo~ in the UK has :ompanics with PV manufacturing facilities
completed its new 1,750 m* facility for light inside the city boundaries.
emitting polymer technology development, Only Siemens Solar (and now PowerLight)
with start of operations in budget, and almost equipment will qualify for the highest incentive,
a month ahead of schedule. >ecause the Siemens factory at Chatsworth is
The $25m centre includes a 600 m2 clean Located within the Los Angeles city limits.
room of class 1000 and class 100 areas and has The Chatsworth production line is reported as
already fabricated first displays on 350 x 350 zapable of manufacturing up to 6 MW, and can
mm glass substrates, using spin coat deposition oe expanded to 15-20 MW of solar electric roof
techniques. tiles per year. The roof tiles are a lightweight
CDT has installed approximately $18.5m of solar PV roofing assembly, optimized for flat and
capiral equipment. Initial equipment tests have
low-sloped roofs. The PowerGuard roof tiles will
been completed, resulting in first display
incorporate Siemens’ high-efficiency single
fabrication.
crystalline cells. Chet Far&, Siemens Solar’s
Transfer of CDT’s existing intellectual know-
executive VP and chief operating offtcer, said:
how from the current six-inch research line in
‘By teaming with PowerLight, we can further our
Cambridge to the new pilot line has begun, as
goals of making solar electricity mainstream.
well as scaling up of manufacturing processes
and general operations of the new line.
For more information contact: PowerLight Corp.,
CDT will install four inkjet printing machines 2954 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA94702, USA,
from its recently acquired subsidiary Litrex Tel: +1510 5400550. Fax: +1510 5400552.
(Pleasanton, CA) in the second half of 2002,
Orcontad: Siemens Solar Industries, PO Box 6023,
giving it the capability to fabricate high-
4650 Adohr Lane, Camarillo, CA 93011, USA. Tel: +I
resolution monochrome and full colour LEP 805 388 6205, www.solarpv.com
displays.
The facility emphasizes CDT’s commitment
to broad scope commercialization of LEP The $6 subsidy ceiling
spreads
technology in displays, general lighting and
photovoltaic applications.
CDT wifl use the new facility for joint
The Long Island Power Authority in New
venture, co-development and strategic
York is to increase its residential subsidy fox
partnerships to accelerate development of LEP
solar PV systems from $3 to $6 per watt.
materials. It plans eventually to produce displays
Under the utility’s clean energy initiative.
for specialized consumer, medical, industrial,
LIPA will hold a raffle for the free installation 01
military and other electronic product markets,
30 solar rooftop systems, as well as increase
says CEO David Fyfe.
existing rebates for customers who install PV
To date, licenses have been granted to Delta
systems.
Optoelectronics, DuPont Displays, Osram, Philips
Raffle winners will receive rooftop systems
and Seiko-Epson, who have either announced
imminent start of production or are actively capable of generating 600 W or 10% of average

implementing their manufacturing strategies. demand, for an installation cost of $5,000. LIPA
will also partner with Community Development

For more inflation contab: Cambridge Display Corporation of Long Island to install PV system:
Technology, Greenwich House, Madingley Rise, on 20 homes of low-income residents. LIPA’s
Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 oTX, UK. Tel: +44 increased rebate of $6 per watt has a maximum
1223 723555, Email: enquiries@cdt Itd.co.uk
rebate of $GO,OOO for a system of up to 10 kW.

Siemens Solar ramps up

Slicing up the silicon
at Chatsworth
wafer market
Siemens Solar Industries has capitahied on its
unique manufacturing facility at Chatsworth Japanese-based Sumitomo Metal Industries.
[see Pbotovokaics Bulletin February, p.31 which owns the subsidiary Sumitomo Sitix oj
with an agreement to manufacture Power- Phoenix has completed its merger with
Light’s PV roof tiles. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, anC

March 2002 Photovoltaics Bulletin 0

renamed the subsidiary Sumitomo Mitsubishi The electrons travel through the nanotube For more information contact: Professor Peter L.
Silicon Corporation (Sumco). length and then hop or tunnel to the next Hagelstein, Research Laboratory of Electronics,
Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology, 77
With the merger, Sumitomo Sitix of Phoenix’s nanotube. This results in an increase in the
Massachusetts Avenue, Cam bridge, MA 02139
name has changed to Sumco Phoenix Corp- electron mobility and balances the charge 4307, USA. Tel: +I 617 253 0899, Email: pih~mit.edu
oration. Combined sales of the new company, carrier transport to the electrodes. In addition,
owned equally by both partners, represents nearly the researchers found that the composite’s
25% of the $5.2bn silicon wafer market. Based in conductivity is increased by a factor of 10, Solar cell manufacturing
Tokyo, Sumco now has 15 manufacturing
expansion plans
indicating percolation paths within the
facilities globally, including six in the US. material.
The merger evolved from a joint partnership
German enthusiasm for solar energy is
that began in March 1999, when Sumitomo and For more information contacb Emmanouil Kymakis,
exemplified by the municipality of Obrig-
Mitsubishi partnered for the development and Cambridge University Engineering Department,
manufacture of 300 mm wafers for next- T~mpin~on Street, Cambridge CBz 1PZ, UK. Tet: heim, which wants to turn the site of the

generation semiconductor devices. +44 1223 766767, Fax: +44 1223 332662. country’s oldest commercial nuclear plant

In April 2001 the companies decided to into a solar power technology site.
I
A possible investor is MW Energie AG,
integrate
will continue
their overall
to separately
silicon
operate
operations.
other parts of
They
Work on refining which is seeking a location to produce solar cells,

their respective businesses, such as nonferrous t~ermionic diodes and is looking

and an unnamed
at its Mannheim
location in eastern
headquarters
Germany.
and fabricated metals, cement, steel pipes and
other products. Other solar projects for the manufacture of
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of
Sumco Phoenix employs about 400 people in solar cells in Germany are under way at Royal
Technology are working on a thermal diode
Arizona, while Sumco USA employs about 2,000. Dutch/Shell and Deutsche BP.
that can turn heat into electric current. This
The German solar energy market is expected
could harness heat from a car engine,
For more information contacb Sumco Phoenix to grow by between 25 and 30% in 2002,
providing power for the electronics, or
Corporation, 1980% N. Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ according to the association UVS. Last year, the
recharge laptop batteries by recycling a
85050-4201, USA. Tel: +1480 473 6000. sector showed turnover of e1.2bn (up from
computer’s micro-processor thermal output.
6?90m) and employs some 20,000 people.
Thermal diodes have found only limited
Single wall carbon applications, such as generating electricity from
However,
energy supplied
the proportion
in Germany
of solar power to total
is still below 1%.

nanotube doping
nuclear sources in space probes or satellites.
Attempts to make semiconductor versions have

improves pe~ormance always been foiled by the technical diffxculti~ of

French, German markets
creating a very narrow vacuum gap between chip

Researchers from Cambridge University’s

Iayers.
Now Peter Hagelstein, an MIT physicist, and
for Tecsol consultancy
engineering department have developed
photovoltaic devices that, when doped with Yan Kucherov have developed a semiconductor
French-based consultancy Tecsol, which
single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTsf, version of a thermal diode operating at the
specializes in solar power, is developing an
perform better than undoped devices. comparatively low temperature of 200°C. Their
remote Internet system for establishing the
The doping of P30T polymer diodes with idea is to replace the vacuum gap with layers of
viability of complex solar power
SWNTs also improves the devices’ photovoltaic an electron-rich semiconducting material, which
installations.
performance, increasing the photocurrent by significantly boosts the current generated.
The system, which is receiving European
more than two orders of magnitude and In an experiment funded by the US military,
funding, should allow users of solar power to
doubling the open-circuit voltage. they used an indium antimonide-based semi-
know the exact energy savings made - essential
The nanotube diodes were made by depositing conductor, comprising an electron ‘emitter’ figures for any public subsidy claims. Tecsol is
organic films containing SWNTs onto glass doped with electron-donating impurities to give looking to the German and French markets.
substrates coated with indium-tin oxide (ITO). a surplus of electrons and an electron ‘collector’
Aluminium electrodes were then thermally doped with electron-deficient impurities. These
For more information contact: Tecsol, 105 avenue
evaporated under a vacuum to form a sandwich have lots of missing electrons, effectively creating Alfred Kastler, BP434, F-66004 Perpignan cedex,
configuration. The interaction of the carbon positive ‘holes’. By placing an additional, highly France. Tel: +33 4 6868 1640, Email: info@tecsol.fr,
doped electron-rich layer between the emitter ~.tecsoi.~
nanotubes with the polymer poly(3-ocryl-
thiophene) (P3OT) allows excitons generated by and collector, the team got more electrons to
light
separate
in the polymer to dissociate
charges and travel more easily.
into their traverse the gap.
The details of the mechanism are still under
UAE plans renewable
Emmanouil Kymakis, co-author of the papers discussion, says Hagelstein. They speculate that energy depa~me~t
in Applied Pb~sicsLetms that describe the work, high-energy electrons reaching the electron-rich
said: ‘The operating principle of this device is layer cause a scattering ‘chain reaction’ whose The United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of
that the interaction of the carbon nanotubes overall effect is to turn more of the heat into Electricity and Water plans to set up a
with the polymer allows charge separation of the electric current. The device is being refined to renewable energy department within a year.
photogenerated excitons in the polymer and see if it can work at lower temperatures. Another The planned department, to be based in Abu
efficient electron transport to the electrode major challenge to development remains Dhabi or Dubai, will be a dedicated research and
through the nanotubes.’ affordability. study centre, and is viewed as ‘high priority,’

c9 Photovoltaics Bulletin March 2002