On 7 July, the executive and project management from Dyesol and Corus met with the Welsh Assembly Government representatives to present the achievements and final milestone elements of the 2 year R&D phase of the joint project to industrialise dye solar cell (DSC) technology on steel for continuous manufacture of integrated building products.

The key milestone element in completion of this phase has been the production of modules for long term comparative testing in the large area indoor full sun testing facility and deployed in the outdoor facility at the PV Accelerator centre on the Corus site in Shotton, North Wales. The purpose of this extensive testing is to demonstrate the value for money and ultimately the LCOE (levellised cost of energy) of these unique photovoltaic products.

The review meeting involved presentations of the advantages of DSC technology in real life conditions (due to the voltage stability in all light conditions and low dependence on angle or quality of light).

In support of the final one-year phase of the project (pre-competitive development), the Corus/Dyesol team presented a review of current process technologies and configuration, relating these to volume production requirements. The proposed production processes were reviewed from the perspectives of robustness of design and cost effectiveness of manufacturing. The next phase of the project will also involve process optimisation studies to demonstrate process reliability and achieve highest economic yield.

The Welsh Assembly Government representatives were shown the recent advances in in-line module processing and final assembly of the products as well as the world leading testing facilities.

In parallel with the project activity, Dyesol and Corus are working on the business case for volume production, and the aim is to finalise this within the calendar year. As part of this, Dyesol has prepared costed plans for the manufacture of the range of DSC materials that will be required.

Source: http://www.dyesol.com/