UniSolar

Welcome to the Dawn of the Solar Age

With Electricity at the Speed of Light.......cloudy weather included

Triple Layer - Flexible and Rigid Modules

Unisolar have developed  a range of modules which are up to 30% more efficient even in cloudy weather. These thin film, triple junction, photovoltaic modules are the product of technological breakthroughs, which combined with improved manufacturing processes means an efficient panel at a cost effective price. - "The clever stuff" ( - :

flexible & rigid   Amorphous photovoltaic (pv) material is deposited on a substrate of stainless steel in separate layers. These layers are called multi-junctions.

All ends of the spectrum are utilised to produce electricity because three of these layers are each specifically tailored to a different  portion (area) of the spectrum. The wide band junction, absorbes  higher energy photons at the red end of the spectrum, sunlight bright enough to cast a shadow. Narrower bands form junctions designed to absorb a portion of the lower light frequencies nearer the green and blue end of the spectrum which is prevelant in cloudy weather.

shadow tolerant

These modules are not only low light sensitive they are also shadow tolerant, with a large number of integrated bypass diodes enabling it to operate even when partially shadowed. The performance of conventional modules comes down to zero even if one cell is shaded.

Technology

The United Solar thin-film cells are manufactured in a unique continuous roll-to-roll deposition process. Each of the nine thin-film semiconductor layers that comprise the cell is sequentially deposited in separate, dynamically-isolated, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) chambers as the stainless steel substrate progresses through the machine. The company's new manufacturing plant, shown at right, has an annual production capcity of five million Watts of solar cells. The thin-film materials, cell designs, and manu- facturing processes used by United Solar Systems Corp. are protected by more than 160 issued U.S. patents.

Rigid framed Modules