Large-Area Production of Highly Efficient Flexible Light-Weight Thin-Film Silicon PV Modules

Roll-to-roll (R2R) processing allows the production of extremely light-weight (less than 0.7 kg/m), flexible photovoltaic modules at a very low cost. Since such a product allows integration in building elements, e.g. roofing membranes, the balance of system costs can be reduced. In this paper we discuss the advantages and production process of our R2R-processed PowerFoil® modules that currently are produced at material costs below 1 €/Wp. We discuss how to scale up the production to foil width in excess of 1.3 m and thereby reduce the material costs to values below 0.2 €/Wp. Further we discuss recent R&D results, amongst others R2R processed tandem modules consisting of 7 cells with 3.5 cm area each and an initial active-area efficiency of 10.3%.