Conventional silicon solar cells have become more than 10x cheaper over that last decade. However, they still are too expensive to compete with some forms of fossil fuels. One way to reduce cost further is to transition to a flexible PV technology that can be manufactured in a high-throughput roll-to-roll (R2R) process; very similar to how newspapers are printed. The primary challenge here is that semiconductors grown in a R2R-compatiable process are typically very defective. Using process optimizations we have demonstrated high-quality semiconductors (and devices) on low-cost substrates like glass and steel.
SERIIUS—the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States—is co-led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)—Bangalore, India, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, Colorado, USA. For mroe information please visit the SERIIUS webpage
