A breakthrough in photovoltaics manufacturing is needed. Introduction to Project Beacon.

1. A solution to the crisis in PV
manufacturing profitability.
A breakthrough in photovoltaics
manufacturing is needed.
Introduction to Project
Beacon
1

2. 2
• Currently >90% of photovoltaic panels are
manufactured using the traditional process (an evolution
of 1970s technology) that requires a large number of very
complex and capital intensive steps:
Wafer
Quartz
(SiO2) PV CellTrichlorosilane
Chunk
polysilicon
Metallurgical
silicon
Monosilane
Granular
polysilicon
Ingot Slicing PV Panel
• Each of these steps now requires multi-billion dollar
investments in capital and equipment to be competitive
in today’s PV industry.
Current PV value chain

3. 3
•But continuous significant subsidies by
the Chinese government to its PV industry
has:
•exacerbated oversupply conditions at
each step of the value chain compressing
margins;
•enabled Chinese manufacturers to sell
below all-in costs and effectively making
new manufacturing investments by non-
Chinese (who do not have access to PRC
subsidies) unprofitable.
Current PV value chain

4. 4
• Therefore the only way to succeed in PV against Chinese
competitors is with new breakthrough technologies. BUT:
• in polysilicon: the Chinese already control low cost
technologies such as hydrochlorination and after GCL’s
acquisition of SunEdison’s poly assets, they now have
access to low cost granular polysilicon production
technology giving them a further edge going forward;
• in wafers: GCL acquired the continuous CZ process
formerly developed by Solaicx, the most advanced such
process in the world giving them an edge in mono wafer
manufacturing;
• in cells: the Chinese have access to all the most advanced
cell architectures from PERC, PERL, Heterojunction and IBC
thanks to patent expiration and open access to such
technologies.
Current PV value chain

5. 5
• What is needed is a major advance in PV manufacturing technology that
reduces the manufacturing steps. Such as what occurred in glass
manufacturing that moved from multi-step, capital intensive processes to the
float process.
• A new approach is needed which is now feasible: this is Project Beacon.
Disruptive new technology required
Process
disruption

6. 6
• Such a technology adapted to PV from the
semiconductor industry now exists.
• We can produce the highest quality mono
crystalline wafers via epitaxial growth direct from
chlorosilane gases.
Disruptive new technology by Beacon
full-
square
156.75 mm
up to
160 mm
mono wafers
Gas to wafer
direct with Epi
trichlorosilane
Proven process
and results

7. • Epitaxy eliminates 3 capex and opex intensive
steps (polysilicon, crystal growth and wafering).
• Cuts the cost of manufacturing a high-spec, full
size, full square, monocrystalline wafer by 50%
compared to the lowest cost Chinese today.
Disruptive new technology by Beacon
Wafer
Quartz
(SiO2) PV CellTrichlorosilane
Chunk
polysilicon
Metallurgical
silicon
Monosilane
Granular
polysilicon
Ingot Slicing PV Panel
X
X
X
X
With Epi
7

8. 8
• By eliminating several manufacturing steps the production cost of epi wafers
is 50% lower than the mainstream Siemens-Czochralski-Diamond saw route.
• And because of the shortened and smaller manufacturing footprint the capex
for a manufacturing facility is 65% less than the current mainstream
manufacturing process.
Disruptive new technology by Beacon
Expected 2018/19 n-type wafer production costs
US$/W
US$0.00
US$0.05
US$0.09
US$0.14
US$0.18
Standard Beacon
US$0.09
US$0.18
Wafer cost US$/W
- 50% opex (with
further benefits downstream)
- 65% capex (with
further benefits downstream)

9. 9
• Why focus on wafers? Because 40% of the value of a PV
panel is represented by silicon wafers.
• The time is now. There is a strong PV industry move to
monocrystalline going forward.
• Epitaxy manufactures the highest quality mono wafers.
Wafers
Multicrystalline Monocrystalline

10. 10
Epi wafers - a drop-in replacement
• There is a ready multi billion $ market.
• n-type mono epi wafers work as drop-in replacements into
multi GW of existing PV cell manufacturing facilities.
• With additional advantages:
• full square rather than pseudo-square;
• in any size, from current 156.75 mm up to 160 mm.
pseudo-
square
full-
square
156.75 mm
156.75 mm
up to
160 mm
Czochralski mono wafers epi mono wafers

11. 11
Additional advantages of epi wafers
• Epi wafers offer much more than simply a cost advantage:
• have very high electrical specifications: high resistivity,
long-lifetime
• low impurity content; especially oxygen and carbon => no
LID
• super thin wafers possible: thickness can be controlled
from 20 up to 200 microns
• high strength thin wafers due to inherent benefits of the
manufacturing process
• may be manufactured to include a very high quality p-n
junction saving production costs and capex in PV cell
production by eliminating the boron diffusion process
• full square wafer, no rounded edges, large form factor
size up to 160mm => higher efficiency

12. 12
• Disruptive technology by Beacon delivers further benefits by
enabling p-n junction processing during the wafer making
process:
Additional advantages of epi wafers

13. 13
Proven breakthrough technology
• Monocrystalline wafers produced by epitaxy with Beacon’s
technology are proven by leading Japanese and European PV
cell research labs and manufacturers:

14. 14
• Epi wafers are future ready:
• enabling current and future high efficiency PV cell
architectures;
• can be made with ready made p-n junctions;
• enabling thin high efficient solar cells;
• enabling future multijunction solar cells with
efficiencies >30% using III-V semi-conductors as
absorbers;
• enabling future PV manufacturing with significantly
lower capex and a lower energy consumption footprint;
• able to manufacture low cost PV panels for less than
U$ 0.22 / W today to drive the next growth of the PV
industry >100GW / annum.
Ready for the future of photovoltaics

15. If you want to learn more:
Michele Bina,
Managing Director,
Relisuco Renewables Ltd.
michele.bina@relisuco.com
Tel +852 9446 3992
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