Moser Baer makes solar breakthrough

Moser Baer PhotoVoltaic, the solar module manufacturing arm of Moser Baer India, has increased its thin film solar module manufacturing capacity by 20% to 50 million watts per year, thanks to a technological breakthrough.

The company, which manufactures low-cost solar modules by spraying a thin film of amorphous or non-crystalline silicon onto glass panels, has become the second company in the world to achieve 7.3% conversion efficiency for its ‘thin film’ modules. The breakthrough came through research conducted at its facility near New Delhi.

Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) thin film panels typically have an energy conversion ratio of around 6%, meaning that they are able to convert about 6% of the sunlight falling on them into electricity. Each square foot of the Earth’s surface typically receives about 100 watt of energy.

With the increase in efficiency, its cost of production has gone down by 20% and each of its 7.5 foot long thin film module will now produce around 400 watts of electricity, up from 340 watts earlier, at more or less the same cost.

Besides thin films, Moser Baer PV also has an annual capacity to manufacture around 70 to 80 million watts (mw) of crystalline silicon modules. However, with 40-50% higher prices, the company is positioning crystalline modules primarily for export and area-constrained applications, such as rooftops.