Akzo Nobel
and Shell Renewables have signed a joint development
agreement to pilot a low cost process of
mass-producing flexible solar cell panels. If the pilot
project proves successful, it could help to overcome
one of the main hurdles to widespread application of
solar photovoltaics: its high cost.
Currently
solar panels have to be manufactured from expensive
materials – such as pure
silicon,
glass and
metals – using
labour-intensive processes. The new process to be tested by Shell and Akzo Nobel in Arnhem, the
Netherlands, uses
mass-production methods to apply a special ‘solar cell coating’ (20 times thinner than a human hair) virtually continuously to rolls
of flexible foil substrates.
“We believe that
solar power is going to be one of the fastest-growing primary sources of energy,” said Philippe de Renzy
Martin, Shell Solar’s Chief Operating Officer. “The market for solar power is forecast to grow at 16-25% per year. Faster and
cheaper production methods, coupled with flexible solar panels, could help to stimulate broader market introduction by allowing
cost effective integration into existing solar products, roofing and wall materials, as well as opening up new applications.”
In order to speed up this development, Akzo Nobel and Shell are also participating in a parallel programme with the Technical
Universities of Delft and Eindhoven, the Utrecht University, TNO (The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research)
and ECN (Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands), in the Netherlands. The Dutch Government Energy Ecology and
Technology programme, NOVEM (the Dutch agency for energy and the environment) and the European Union are supporting
this programme.