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What is Photovoltaics?
Silicon-Wafer
based Technology
Market
development
Links
Glossary
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Silicon-Wafer based Technology
In the field of photovoltaics, different technologies
have evolved. These technologies differ in some criteria.
Particularly they are as follows:
• raw materials
• production processes
• efficiency
• required area for a given electrical power
Silicon-wafer based photovoltaic technology use crystalline
silicon as a semiconductor material. In the process of wafer
production, first high-purity silicon is transformed into
silicon ingots. These are used in two variants with different
material structure: either mono- or multicrystalline. After
that process the ingots are sliced on wire saws to silicon
wafers. The production processes are very complex and require
a lot of experience.
The silicon wafer – product of Swiss Wafers AG
– is the base of a PV-System.
About 90 % of all photovoltaic applications are currently
silicon-wafer based (both variants together, see graphics).
Cell technology shares in 2005
The silicon-wafer based technology is developed to a
high degree. According to experts’ expectations, in
the future the market shares of different technologies will
stay similar to today. The value chain in the silicon-wafer
based photovoltaic industry is divided into five major steps.
Swiss Wafers AG is positioned at the beginning of the value
chain, in ingot and wafer production.
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