The Virtual Solar Cell Factory

Jeff Cotter (Arizona State University)

SOLAR SEMINAR SERIES

DATE: 2012-01-05
TIME: 14:00:00 - 15:00:00
LOCATION: Ian Ross Seminar Room
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ABSTRACT:
The photovoltaics industry has finally reached the level of maturity where mass manufacturing of low-cost, high-quality solar cells and modules is a reality. Gigawatt sized factory clusters are being built, multi-hundred megawatt systems are being installed, and the holy grail of grid parity solar electricity is right around the corner. Even so, there is still a great deal of vital engineering work to be done a" to reduce costs across the value chain, to improve product quality and performance, and to enhance product reliability. This kind of engineering work, however, pursues ever smaller signals within a hectic and dynamic manufacturing environment, and so engineers and managers must have a solid understanding of efficient statistical methods to plan and execute and analyze the results of engineering work, so that the correct decisions are made with minimum effort and disruption.

This talk will highlight a few examples of the kinds of work engineers do in a manufacturing environment, then showcase the Virtual Cell Factory project, underway in collaboration with Arizona State University and the University of Delaware, that aims to expose undergraduate engineering students with an interest in photovoltaics to the interesting world of manufacturing engineering and science.