Energy Demand Analysis of Photovoltaic Device – Material and Nanomanufacturing Process Discovery

Most solar cell manufacturing plants and research laboratories in the U.S. use non-renewable energy for their operations. This energy paradox must be addressed, especially due to the increased spending toward photovoltaic (PV) technology research and manufacturing fueled by the growing demand for renewable energy supply. At the same time, it is also important that the scientific community be made aware of the energy cost of energy research. While keeping scientific discovery a priority, it must be understood that energy is precious and must be conserved, including at the research and development stage of a product's life cycle. With energy conservation in mind, a case study was conducted to quantify the energy demand for the research phase of an emerging PV technology and identify energy intensive components. The test-bed system chosen for this study was a quantum-wire (QWR) based intermediate band solar cell grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and fabricated by photolithography. This paper presents the results of the energy demand analysis performed on the QWR-based solar cell research test-bed system. Life cycle assessment (LCA), an internationally accepted tool for energy and sustainability analysis, was chosen as the methodology for conducting this case study.