QSolar announces Near Grid Parity

QSolar announced late last week that it is set to achieve grid parity by breaking the $1/W barrier. QSolar plans to do this using its new, fully automatic integrated Crucible Cell Spraytek79 manufacturing processes.

First, let’s explain what grid parity means. To achieve grid parity, the cost of solar electricity must be equal or lower than the cost of conventional electricity produced by fossil fuel. The cost of the solar wafer which is used for the manufacturing of solar cells, the main component of solar panels, accounts for 40% of the overall cost of the solar module. Any savings in the production costs of the wafer, results in significant savings in the overall module price.

Conventional wafer manufacturing processes consist of growing large ingots of silicon crystals in furnaces and then cutting them with wire saws into thin wafers. This process results in material loses of up to 50% from the silicon dust produced during cutting. This can not be reused as it is no longer pure to the level required for solar wafer manufacturing. QSolar's Crucible Cell® process eliminates this waste by using a proven metal casting method to manufacture individual wafers in graphite crucibles without any cutting that leads to waste. This process leads to up to 50% saving in silicon material which in turn results to up to 20% saving on the cost of the finished solar module.

QSolar is a private technology company based in Calgary in the solar photovoltaic panel manufacturing field. Sounds cool, right? Even more cool, QSolar is the first company in the world to provide semi-transparent coloured solar panels. You can take the coloured solar panels and build coloured facades or create logos, an interesting way to promote your business or cover the outside of a building.