November 2003 • NREL/TP-520-35278 

PV Manufacturing R&D 

Accomplishments and Status 

D. Mooney, R. Mitchell, E. Witt, R. King, 

and D. Ruby 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard 

Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 

NREL is a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory

Operated by Midwest Research Institute • Battelle 

Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337 
November 2003 • NREL/TP-520-35278 

PV Manufacturing R&D 

Accomplishments and Status 

D. Mooney, R. Mitchell, E. Witt, R. King, 

and D. Ruby 

Prepared under Task No. PVP46101 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

1617 Cole Boulevard 

Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 

NREL is a U.S. Department of Energy Laboratory

Operated by Midwest Research Institute • Battelle 

Contract No. DE-AC36-99-GO10337 
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PV Manufacturing R&D Accomplishments and Status 

D. Mooney,

1

 R. Mitchell,1 E. Witt,1 R. King,2 and D. Ruby3

1

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO; 2U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC; 3

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 

ABSTRACT 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PV 

Manufacturing Research and Development Project has 

worked for 11 years in partnership with the U.S. 

photovoltaic industry to reduce manufacturing costs while 

significantly scaling up production capacity. Over this 

period, the PV Manufacturing R&D Project has issued 

seven solicitations for partnerships that have resulted in over 

50 cost-shared R&D subcontracts that addressed the cost 

and capacity goals of the Project, including 10 that are 

currently active. The previous and current contracts have 

typically focused on addressing Project goals in one of two 

areas: module manufacturing and balance-of-systems 

(BOS)/systems work. The majority of the DOE investment 

has been targeted toward module manufacturing. The 

partnerships have resulted in a significant and measurable 

increase in PV module/systems production capacity, a 

decrease in PV manufacturing costs, and a subsequent return 

on the joint public and private investments facilitated by the 

Project. 

1. Introduction 

In 1990, DOE, working with the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, 

initiated the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology 

(PVMaT) Project in partnership with the U.S. photovoltaic 

industry to accelerate PV production scale-up and cost 

reduction. Since the inception of PVMaT (now referred to 

as the PV Manufacturing R&D Project), the U.S. DOE and 

industry have together invested over $140M ($80M U.S. 

DOE share/$60M industry share) toward the goals of the 

Project. This has been accomplished through six 

procurements, including the latest and currently active 

procurement titled “In-line Diagnostics and Intelligent 

Processing (IDIP).” The details of these procurements have 

been described in a number of other papers [1-16] and will 

not be reviewed here. Generally, over the course of these 

procurements, subcontracts have focused on three main 

areas. The first, and the area that has received the majority 

of PV Manufacturing R&D money, is process-specific 

improvements for individual companies’ module 

manufacturing products and processes. Subcontracts have 

also been awarded to address generic issues so that the R&D 

results of these efforts might be applicable to, and adopted 

by, a number of members of the U.S. PV industry. The 

third main area is related to BOS and systems integration 

manufacturing improvements and scale-up. The 

subcontracted R&D funded in the first five procurements 

has all been completed. The research under the IDIP 

solicitation is under way and will be summarized in the 

following section. 

2. Status 

The IDIP Request for Letters of Interest (LOI) was 

structured to solicit responses in the areas of research and 

development for PV System and Component Technology 

and Module Manufacturing Technology. The IDIP Request 

for LOIs received 22 responses. Of these, six responded to 

the System and Component category and 16 responded to 

the Module Manufacturing category. Table 1 lists the 

responders that were determined to be in the competitive 

range and with whom subcontracts have been entered into to 

this point. Negotiations are ongoing with an additional four 

companies not listed in Table 1, but who were in the 

competitive range of the IDIP solicitation. 

Table 1. IDIP Subcontractors 

Subcontractor Subcontract Title 

PV System and Component Category 

PowerLight Corporation PowerGuard Lean Manufacturing 

Schott Applied Power Plug and Play Components for 

Building Integrated PV Systems 

Specialized Technology 

Resources 

Development of New Low-Cost, 

High-Performance PV Module 

Encapsulant/Packaging Materials 

Xantrex PV Inverter Products 

Manufacturing and Design 

Improvement for Cost Reductions 

and Performance Enhancement 

Module Manufacturing Category 

BP Solar Large Scale PV Module 

Manufacturing Using Ultrathin 

Polycrystalline Silicon Solar Cells 

Energy Photovoltaics, Inc. Productivity Enhancement for 

Manufacturing of Amorphous 

Silicon PV Modules 

Evergreen Solar Innovative Approaches to Low 

Cost Module Manufacturing of 

String Ribbon Si PV Modules 

ITN Energy Trajectory Oriented and Fault 

Tolerant Based, Intelligent Process 

Control for Flexible CIGS PV 

Module Manufacturing 

RWE Schott Solar EFG Technology and Diagnostics 

R&D for Large-Scale PV 

Manufacturing 

Shell Solar Industries PV Manufacturing R&D – 

Integrated CIS Thin-film 

Manufacturing Infrastructure 

Sinton Consulting Development of an In-Line 

Minority-Carrier Lifetime 

Monitoring Tool for Process 

Control During Fabrication for 

Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells 

1
3. Progress Toward PV Manufacturing R&D Goals 

To measure and track the progress of the PV 

Manufacturing R&D Project’s impact on module cost and 

production capacity, direct module manufacturing costs and 

manufacturing capacity have been collected in collaboration 

with the Project’s module manufacturing partners. In 

addition to supplying the most recent year’s data, module 

manufacturing partners also supply their projections for the 

coming five years. Figure 1 shows the 2002 data of 15 PV 

Manufacturing R&D module manufacturing partners who 

had active manufacturing lines in 2002. (A partners in this 

context refers to a subcontractor with a specific technology. 

Within the 15 partners, there are 11 companies represented.) 

Figure 1 shows continued progress toward meeting the 

Project goals of decreasing direct manufacturing costs and 

increasing production capacity. 

Fig. 1 PV Manufacturing R&D participants cost and 

capacity data. 

The PV module manufacturing cost shown on the 

vertical axis of Figure 1 represents the weighted average of 

the 15 manufacturers’ direct module manufacturing costs in 

2002 dollars. Each manufacturer’s cost was weighted in the 

average based on their contribution to the total 

manufacturing capacity. The direct costs that are included 

relate only to those costs directly associated with module 

production and do not include such costs as research, 

marketing/sales, or general and administrative expenses. 

The production capacity that is shown on the horizontal axis 

is the total capacity of the 15 manufacturers and does not 

represent the actual module production of the partners, but 

illustrates the potential production if all the plants were 

running at full capacity. Costs that are shown are also 

expected to scale with the production level, and therefore, 

direct costs shown are only those that are commensurate 

with full production. 

Looking at the data through 2002, it is seen that total 

module production capacity has grown from 13 MW at the 

start of PVMaT subcontracts in 1992 to 205 MW in 2002 – 

a 16-fold increase or a 32% average annual growth in 

production capacity among these PV Manufacturing R&D 

participants. During the same period, direct module 

manufacturing costs in 2002 dollars have dropped from 

$5.47/Wp in 1992 to $2.42/Wp. This represents a total 

price reduction of about 56%, or an average annual drop in 

direct module manufacturing cost of about eight percent. In 

terms of technology learning curves, these data reflect an 

average 18% drop in direct manufacturing costs for each 

doubling of production capacity. 

When compared to a similar graph using 2001 data 

[16], it should be noted that there is shift downward in 

production capacity and a shift upward in direct module 

manufacturing costs. These shifts are the result of the 

closure of two manufacturing plants during 2002, coupled 

with more conservative projections on the part of a number 

of manufacturers when projecting future capacity and costs. 

It should also be noted that the data through 2002 include 15 

partners, whereas the data from 2003 to 2008 include 

projections without the two factories that closed. 

Figure 2 shows the ratio of non-thin-film production 

capacity to thin-film production capacity. When compared 

to a previous similar graph [16], a difference can be seen in 

the out-year projections. A portion of this shift is related to 

the closure of the two plants in 2002 referenced above. The 

significant increase in the ratio that reflected planned thinfilm capacity increases has moderated, and the ratios for 

projections through 2008 show a slightly more level trend. 

Thin-film/Non-Thin-film Production Ratios 

100% 

90% 

80% 

70% 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

10% 

0% 

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

2002 Data 

15 PV Man. R&D Participants 

with Active Manufacturing Lines 

Non Thin-film 

Thin-film 

Fig. 2 Ratios of thin-film to non-thin-film production 

levels shown as percentage of total production. 

4. Recapture of Research Funding 

Along with cost and capacity data, PV Manufacturing 

R&D module manufacturing partners have also provided the 

Project with manufacturing cost reductions that can be 

directly attributed to the efforts completed under their costshared subcontracts. In addition to the raw cost-savings 

data, manufacturers have also provided information related 

to how those cost reductions will be allocated. The 

recapture of the money invested by both the U.S. DOE and 

the companies themselves can be determined by analyzing 

how much of the cost reductions will be passed on to 

consumers through lower prices and how much will be 

retained by the company as increased profits, debt 

reduction, or capital investment. Figures 3 and 4 show the 

breakeven points for both the public and participating 

Percentage of Total Capacity 

2
companies. The breakeven point is defined as the point at 

which the cumulative manufacturing cost savings equals the 

total amount invested (in 2002 dollars). The industry 

recovery as shown in Figure 4 reflects the total investment 

and recapture of R&D funding in 2002 dollars for all 

participating module manufacturers and is not a reflection of 

the investment recapture for an individual company. As can 

be seen in Figure 3, accounting for the investment through 

the end of calendar year 2002, the benefit to the public 

through cumulative lower pricing exceeded the U.S. DOE 

(public) investment in 1999. As of the end of 2002, the 

simple return on the public’s investment stands at 366% 

since the project’s inception. 

Recapture of Public Investment 

2,500 

2,000 

1,500 

1,000 

500 

-

100% Recapture 

Cumulative Public Recapture Cumulative Public Investment 

Fig. 3 Recapture of the public’s investment in the PV 

Manufacturing R&D Project. 

Figure 4 illustrates that the industry reached a 

breakeven for their investment in 1998. As of the end of 

2002, the simply return on the industry’s investment stands 

at 319 percent. In addition to breakeven points for both the 

public and private sectors, Figures 3 and 4 also depict, based 

on projections of the participating module manufactures, 

that the cumulative benefits will continue to accrue well into 

the future. 

Recapture of Industry 

Investment 

2,50 

0 

2,00 

0 

1,50 

0 

1,00 

0 

50 

0 

-

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

100% Recapture 

Cumulative Industry Recapture Cumulative Industry Investment 

Fig. 4 Recapture of industry’s investment in PV 

Manufacturing R&D improvements. 

5. Conclusions 

Work on subcontracted R&D under the IDIP 

solicitation of the PV Manufacturing R&D Project is 

currently under way. Interest on the part of the U.S. PV 

industry has remained very strong throughout the Project, 

with 22 LOIs received for the latest solicitation. The Project 

has continued to address its goals of reducing direct 

manufacturing costs and increasing production capacity. 

Average direct manufacturing costs (in 2002 dollars) have 

been reduced 56% since the first subcontracts were issued in 

1992, while production capacity has increased 16-fold, 

assisting the industry in meeting the demands of a rapidly 

growing market. Projections from the Project’s partners 

show this trend continuing, with projections through 2008 

for further direct manufacturing cost reductions to $1.07 per 

peak watt accompanied by an increase in production 

capacity to over 700 MW. As work on the IDIP 

procurement continues, investigation is under way to 

determine future activities that will support research in 

product quality and facilitate the further acceleration of the 

Project’s cost reduction and increased capacity goals. 

6. References 

[1] C.E. Witt, L.O. Herwig, R. Mitchell, and G.D. Mooney, 

"Status of the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology 

(PVMaT) Project," Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Las Vegas, 

Nevada, October 1991. 

[2] C.E. Witt, R.L. Mitchell, G.D. Money, L.O. Herwig, D. 

Hasti, and R. Sellers, "Progress in Phases 2 and 3 of the 

Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project 

(PVMaT)," Proceedings of the 23rd IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Louisville, 

Kentucky, May 1993. 

[3] C.E. Witt, L.O. Herwig, R.L. Mitchell, H.P. Thomas, R. 

Sellers, and D.S. Ruby, "Recent Progress in the 

Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project 

(PVMaT)," Proceedings of the 1st World Conference 

on Photovoltaics, Waikoloa, Hawaii, December 1994. 

[4] R.L. Mitchell, C.E. Witt, H.P. Thomas, L.O. Herwig, 

D.S. Ruby, and C.C. Aldrich, "Benefits from the U.S. 

Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology Project," 

Proceedings of the 25th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists 

Conference, Washington, D.C., May 1996. 

[5] R.L. Mitchell, C.E. Witt, and H.P. Thomas, 

"Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) 

Project - Latest Results," Proceedings of the NREL/SNL 

Photovoltaic Program Review Meeting, Lakewood, 

Colorado, November 1996. 

[6] R.L. Mitchell, C.E. Witt, H.P. Thomas, L.O. Herwig, 

D.S. Ruby, Richard King, and C.C. Aldrich, "Progress 

Update on the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing 

Technology Project," Proceedings of the 26th IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Anaheim, CA, 

October 1996. 

[7] C.E. Witt, R.L. Mitchell, M. Symko-Davies, H.P. 

Thomas, R. King, and D.S. Ruby, “Current 

StatusandFuture Prospects for the PVMaT Project,” 

2002 $ (Millions) 2002 $ (Millions) 

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 

3
Presented at 11th International Photovoltaic Science 

and Engineering Conference, Sapporo Japan, 

September 1999. 

[8] C.E. Witt, R.L. Mitchell, M. Symko-Davies, H.P. 

Thomas, R. King, and D.S. Ruby, “Ten Years of 

Manufacturing R&D in PVMaT – Technical 

Accomplishments, Return on Investment, and Where 

Do We Go Next,” Proceedings of the 28th IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Anchorage, 

Alaska, September 2000. 

[9] C.E. Witt, T. Surek, R.L. Mitchell, M. Symko-Davies, 

and H.P. Thomas, “Terrestrial Photovoltaics 

Technologies - Recent Progress in Manufacturing 

R&D,” Presented at the ASME 2000 34th National Heat 

Transfer Conf., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 2000. 

[10]C.E. Witt, R.L. Mitchell, H.P. Thomas, M.L. Symko, R. 

King, and D.S. Ruby, “Manufacturing Improvements in 

the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) 

Project,” Proceedings of the 2nd World Conference on 

Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, Vienna, 

Austria, July 1998. 

[11] R.L. Mitchell, M.L. Symko, H.P. Thomas, and C.E. 

Witt, “PVMaT 1998 Overview,” Presented at the 

NCPV Photovoltaic Program Review Meeting, Denver, 

Colorado, September 1998. 

[12] M. Symko-Davies, R.L. Mitchell, C.E. Witt, H.P. 

Thomas, R. King, and D.S. Ruby, “Decade of PV 

Industry R&D Advances in Silicon Module 

Manufacturing,” Proceedings of the 28th IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Anchorage, 

Alaska, September 2000. 

[13] W. Bower, H.P. Thomas, B. Kroposki, R. Bonn, and T. 

Hund, “Balance-of-System Improvements for 

Photovoltaic Applications Resulting from the PVMaT 

4A1 Program,” Proceedings of the 26th IEEE 

Photovoltaics Specialists Conference, Anaheim, CA, 

October 1996. 

[14] H.P. Thomas, B. Kroposki, P. McNutt, C.E. Witt, W. 

Bower, R. Bonn, and T.D. Hund, “Progress in 

Photovoltaic System and Component Improvements,” 

Proceedings of the 2nd World Conference on 

Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, Vienna, 

Austria, July 1998. 

[15] H.P. Thomas, B. Kroposki, C.E. Witt, and W. Bower, 

“Progress in Photovoltaic Components and Systems,” 

Presented at the 16th European Photovoltaic Solar 

Energy Conference and Exhibition, Glasgow, Scotland, 

U.K., May 2000. 

[16]R.L. Mitchell, C.E. Witt, R. King, and D. Ruby, 

“PVMaT Advances in the Photovoltaic Industry and the 

Focus of Future PV Manufacturing R&D,” Presented at 

the 29th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference, 

New Orleans, Louisiana, 2001. 

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PV Manufacturing R&D Accomplishments and Status 

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13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PV Manufacturing Research and Development Project 

has worked for 11 years in partnership with the U.S. photovoltaic industry to reduce manufacturing costs while significantly 

scaling up production capacity. Over this period, the PV Manufacturing R&D Project has issued seven solicitations for 

partnerships that have resulted in over 50 cost-shared R&D subcontracts that addressed the cost and capacity goals of the 

Project, including 10 that are currently active. he previous and current contracts have typically focused on addressing 

Project goals in one of two areas: module manufacturing and balance-of-systems (BOS)/systems work. he majority of the 

DOE investment has been targeted toward module manufacturing. he partnerships have resulted in a significant and 

measurable increase in PV module/systems production capacity, a decrease in PV manufacturing costs, and a subsequent 

return on the joint public and private investments facilitated by the Project. 

15. NUMBER OF PAGES 14. SUBJECT TERMS: PV Manufacturing R&D; module; balance-of-systems (BOS); systems 

production capacity; scale-up; partnership; costs; capacity; recapture; benefits 

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