News: Photovoltaics
13 April 2021
First Solar launches Series 6 CuRe PV modules
Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA says that its newly developed Series 6 CuRe next-generation PV technology has a warranted degradation rate of 0.2% per year, which is claimed to be the lowest rate for any commercially available PV product (based on publicly available information). This degradation rate is up to 60% lower than conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) products, and ensures that the module will retain at least 92% of its original performance at the end of its 30-year warranty.
Combined with what is claimed to be a superior temperature coefficient, spectral response and shading behaviour, the near-zero degradation rate is reckoned to advance the Series 6 CuRe platform’s competitiveness in all markets. First Solar says that the enhanced performance is enabled not only by semiconductor-level innovation but also its copper replacement (CuRe) program. Developed at the firm’s Silicon Valley and Ohio R&D centers, CuRe is a proprietary semiconductor platform that replaces copper with atoms of Group V elements that enhance performance, delivering long-term stability.
“We invested in our understanding of copper’s dynamics in order to turn what had been a cause of degradation into an opportunity to virtually eliminate it,” says chief technology officer Markus Gloeckler. “We researched a range of alternatives and found that Group V elements could effectively replace copper, acting as a stable dopant and furthering our goal of zero degradation. CuRe is the deployment-ready result of that research.”
The result of over $1.4bn in cumulative investment, First Solar’s cadmium telluride technology already has one of the industry’s longest proven track records in module degradation, says the firm. Its early-generation modules, pre-dating most of the world’s largest c-Si manufacturers, were installed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Outdoor Test Facility in Colorado and recently completed 25-years of continuous monitoring. The long-term study revealed a degradation rate of just 0.48% a year.
“From engineering the atoms in the semiconductor to its ability to withstand extreme weather events such as hailstorms, and from the social license that comes built-in to being able to recycle over 90% of each module, this responsibly produced technology is packed with innovation designed to address many of our customers’ biggest challenges,” says CEO Mark Widmar.
Series 6 CuRe builds on First Solar’s Series 6 technology (claimed to be the world’s only large-format thin-film module). The Series 6 CuRe module technology features a -0.28%/0C temperature coefficient (which improves upon the existing Series 6 baseline) and what is claimed to be a superior spectral response, allowing it to outperform c-Si in hot and humid environments. Unlike c-Si panels that can experience disproportionate power loss under shaded conditions, First Solar’s Series 6 modules feature a superior shading response, with a linear relationship to the shaded area that minimizes shading loss, the firm says.
Series 6 CuRe technology is also immune to many issues that the company believes continue to plague c-Si panels, including cell-cracking due to mishandling during installation or extreme weather events, such as high winds or hailstorms. It comes with the industry’s first and only cell-cracking warranty. It is also immune to light-induced degradation (LID) and light- and elevated-temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) mechanisms that affect c-Si modules.
“Series 6 CuRe is built with our customers’ needs in mind,” says chief commercial officer Georges Antoun. “It delivers not just more performance, but fast installation with lower structural costs, industry-leading quality, reliability and durability, and unparalleled levels of traceability and transparency,” he claims.
Manufactured under one roof at the company’s manufacturing facilities in the USA, Malaysia and Vietnam, the technology’s quality assurance and quality control programs offer full traceability. Series 6 CuRe also has a carbon footprint that is reckoned to be 2.5-times lower than high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon, which uses energy-intensive methods to refine and produce its polysilicon semiconductor. It also has a water footprint that is three times lower and an energy payback time that is twice as fast as monocrystalline silicon, says First Solar.
First Solar’s Series 6 is first PV module to be EPEAT-rated
