Thin film CIGS Photo-Voltanic Panels(
Copper
Indium
Gallium
Selenide photovoltanic panels as a future technology that will be used on Moon and Mars for In-Situ manufacturing/production )
PVP types: http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/627/cigstabela.jpgEfficiency: The efficiency archeaved now for comercial uses is 12-15%. In labolatory conditions it's twice as much (30% - check wikipedia link on the end), and since this technology is only 20-30 years old (20 years od production), it's sure it will develope significantly. The table below shows the parameters of comercial CIGS about 5-10 years ago.
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created thin film solar panels that are very close to competing with their more traditional silicon-based cousins. "The copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell recently reached 19.9 percent efficiency in testing at the lab, setting a new world record."
19.9% refers to how much of the sun's light is converted to electricity by the panel. Multicrystalline silicon-based solar cells have shown efficiencies as high as 20.3 percent (without concentrators...), so thin film is very close. Any fraction of a percent makes a big difference over the decades of useful life of a panel.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/thin-film-solar-panel-efficiency-record.phpOn the end of the post you will find videos - one of them is with a guy that compares various PVP aviable now for home-use.
Gains and losses from CIGS: Gains:
- CIGS solar power does not require large quantities of silicon. Therefore, CIGS solar power has a large cost savings compared to several other kinds of solar power.
- CIGS solar power does not require to grow monocrystal wafers for cuting. This means the proces is faster, cheaper and does not require super-clean environment.
- CIGS solar power is the most resistant to space radiation, and will even work after piercing from micro-meteorites.
- CIGS solar power does not require big-complex production processes (look at
Manufacturing: ). The production does not need as much hi-tech equipement as crystaline silicon.
- CIGS solar power is a thin-film. It weights only the fraction of other PVP. Mas is very important when it comes to space-engeneering.
- CIGS solar power is a flexible thin-film. That means that if needed it can coat every surface like a piece of paper.
- CIGS solar power reaches quickly the efficiency of monocrystal silicon ones.
- CIGS technology will be used to mass production on the Moon base once a fully estabilished base will be settled (moon CIGS made out of regolith will be 5% efficient - look at links to see how NASA see's this process)
- CIGS PVP is a thin-film (like paper) that needs only small mass of
Copper
Indium
Gallium
Selenide in comparison to other PVP which needs a kilograms of silicon/german for the same amound of surface. Not all of that mass is used - due to the cutting process some of it is lost. CIGS doesn't have that problem.
Loses:
- The efficiency of non-labolatory CIGS PVP is smaller than monocrystal silicon-ones (yet still better than amorpheus PVP). That means that to generate the same amount of power, CIGS must have 1.5-2.0 greater surface.
- It's a newborn technology that hasn't been completely explored in comparisone to monocrystal PVP.
- One of the components of CIGS is Indium which is a rare element (also look at
Resources for CIGS on Mars: )
- CIGS as all PVP need coating for protection, and becouse of that it's small mass gain is not as much noticable.
Manufacturing: CIGS has a big production advantage: It does not need monocrystal silicon. That means that you don't need to use Czochralski's crystalization proces used (which is BTW a Polish inventor :-P). This changes everyting, since now the production can be quick and efficient (morover - it costs less). Czohralski's process needs days or even WEEKS to make one monocrystall.
Here you have the production schematics of Mono-Crystaline PVP:
http://img208.imageshack.us/i/processillust01.jpgAnd here you have CIGS production process - can you see how much easier it is?
http://www.nanowin.com/images/05.jpgDid you know that 90% of solar panels are monocrystaline-silicon and 50% of the cost of those panels comes from the silicon?
Her you have detailed information about manufacturing steps of Si and CIGS PVP:
http://www.solarthinfilms.com/active/en/home/products__services/turnkey_pv_thinfilm_factories/cigs_manufacturing_process.htmlProposed implementation in MCO: The way I see it: Si-(or better: German-based) monocrystal PVP are efficient and should be transported on Mars on start.
Photovoltanic energy is used mainly as a backup for the nuclear-reactor. On start, there will only be a few PV pannels.
That's why efficient silicon or even better german monocrystals will provide good backup energy plan.
Morover - solar energy is very good becouse thorium reactor needs even up-to 5 days to (re)start (it must be heated-up enough for the thorium to change into uranium, that will release energy). At that moment the base will have energical crysis untill the reactor is ready.
Morover - the reactor will have to be checked (turned-off) from time to time.
As the base expands, it will need not only more backup power but also more solar-power in total.
At this stage, it is important to have lots of panels, but importing new ones is out of the question (becouse of the price).
Sending new thorium reactor with fuel is also out of the question.
What is left is to build your own PVP.
You can't build Si-based panels, but CIGS one's can be manufactured In-Situ.
It will take time - that's for sure, lot's of effort and finding needed resources but it can be done.
And when you will start your production once, you will build more and more of CIGS panels.
Most of them will be used for the base needs - PV panels are made of cells - and those cells may broke and you will have to replace them (that goes for every PVP).
If you have enough cells in your stock, you can connect them and make a new panel.
Morover - if you don't need that panel why not go ahead and sell it ?!
So...the CIGS manufacturing on mars base would look like that:
Find Copper Indium Gallium Selenide and refine it.
Take that resources to CIGS manofacturing unit wchich will manufacture it itself (it will conduct all of the neceserry steps by itself like in fabric).
Take the CIGS cell - use it to replace it with the used ones, ore connect them at worktable to make PVP.
Take that PVP to desired area and install it.
As a form of coating, the CIGS panells would also use fiberglass - which is easy to make on mars.
I think (not sure) CIGS also need molibden and zinc as a conductors, but since this is a game, I dont think that's necesarry (or you would need to add them aswell as Copper Indium Gallium and Selenide).
Resources for CIGS on Mars: No empiric data about that, but theoretically - scientists say that Mars has a lot more Copper Indium Gallium and Selenide. That's becouse of two factors: one - Earth has been pillaged for resources for 5000 years - lot's of precious resources can be finded in small pockets near the surface, but they have been mined long ago by man. Mars is intact.
Secondly - mars have no tectonical activity, and that means that every mineral that has been ejected to the surface by wulcanic activity will not have a process that will transport it's location and mon importantly - take it back to the core in tectonical subduction areas.
That means mars should have lot's of precious elements on it's surface.
LINKS & ARTICLES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cell - Solar cell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_indium_gallium_selenide - Copper indium gallium selenide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multijunction_photovoltaic_cell - Multijunction photovoltaic cell
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/_a/nanomarkets_cigs_thin_film_sales_to_top_us2.1_billion_by_2016/ - NanoMarkets: CIGS thin film sales to top US$2.1 billion by 2016
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/07/the-rise-of-cigs-finally?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-July28-2010 - The Rise of CIGS – Finally?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agJeATIG1jU - Solar Panel Review / Comparison / Performance - Part 4/4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo4bG7qMqIU - 7.5 watt CIGS solar panel review
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8SCOKOHBiE - Ritek Solar - English version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFwiKsgKMg8 - Automated Solar Factory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJe12X6T50 - Thin-film Photovoltaic (PV) Laminates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLAmy7SG6r0 - Thin Film PV Reliability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTKL6oIyiZ0 - Inside roll-to-roll CIGS thin film manufacturing with Global Solar
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707131901.htm - Inexpensive Solar Cells: Low-Cost Solution Processing Method Developed For CIGS-Based Solar Cells
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/2881 - High-Performance CIGS Solar Cell Saves Resources
http://www.nrel.gov/pv/thin_film/docs/attach_wcpec_japan_2003.pdf - NON-VACUUM PROCESSING OF CIGS SOLAR CELLS ON FLEXIBLE
POLYMERIC SUBSTRATES
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/resource2000/pdf/7026.pdf - THE FABRICATION OF SILICON SOLAR CELLS ON THE MOON USING IN-SITU
RESOURCES.
http://xenophilius.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/solar-cells-on-the-moon-meet-the-luna-ring/ - Solar Cells on the Moon? Meet the Luna Ring
http://www.asi.org/adb/02/08/solar-cell-production.html - Lunar Production of Solar Cells
http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/2005/TM-2005-214014.pdf - Materials Refining for Solar Array Production
on the Moon
http://www.newmars.com/wiki/index.php/Solar_panels - Mars Solar panels
http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/bitstream/2014/10944/1/02-2805.pdf - SOLAR ARRAY DEVELOPMENT FOR THE SURFACE OF MARS
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/315858main_Cheng-yi_Lu.pdf - NASA JSC Lunar Surface Concept Study - Lunar Energy Storage