The 3D Printing Industry interviews series looking at low carbon power generation together with3D打印和可再生能源continues with deep dive into the application of additive manufacturing for solar energy.
丹尼尔·克拉克（Daniel Clark）说：“ 3D打印有可能改变太阳能行业。”企业家拥有体积太阳能和3D打印的多项专利，是太阳能公司T3DP的创始人
I spoke to Clark about the efficiency inroads additive manufacturing is making in the development of next-generation photovoltaics, and the potential for the technology to unlock a new era of solar energy.
According toBP’smost recentStatistical Review of World Energy, solar power recorded its largest-ever increase in 2020, and alongside wind accounted formore than 90 percentof the entire renewable energy sector’s growth across the year. This growth is also reflected in the rising market value of the sector, with the global solar energy market预计价值4220亿美元在2022年，2015年为860亿美元。
The sun is rising on solar 3D printing
Solar remains the third-largest renewable electricity technology behind hydropower and onshore wind, with power generation increasing by arecord 23 percent in 2020compared to 2019.
While the technology’s plus points include helping people to save money on their bills and become energy independent, there are also several caveats, such as high upfront costs, large space requirements, and the environmental impact of manufacturing the photovoltaic panels. In fact, it takes 130 liters of oil to produce a single silicon solar panel and anestimated 78 million metric tons到2050年，有毒太阳能电池板废物最终将进入垃圾填埋场。
几年前，围绕3D打印的增材制造业中有一系列活动，更有效，雷电竞充值low-cost photovoltaics, spurred on by varioussolar power innovation contestslaunched by the likes of the美国能源部. However, there seems to have been somewhat of a tailing-off in this area since then.
Recently, though, there seems to have been a resurgence of activity in this field, with the Chemistry of Thin Film Materials (CTFM) laboratory at theUniversity of Erlangenin Germany宣布赠款来自European Research Council(ERC) to rapidly prototype solar cells using its atomic-layer additive manufacturing technology. The lab hopes to bring the solar cells to market with the help ofFormnext启动挑战2021winner, atomic layer 3D printer developerATLANT 3D Nanosystems.
One firm that has remained very active in this field is California-based start-upT3DP，由克拉克（Clark）创立applying its patented volumetric 3D printing technique自2019年以来建立perovskite-based太阳能电池板。
自然风格的体积3D打印
Taking inspiration from the honeycomb structure of insect eyes, T3DP has designed a novel solar cell able to capture three times more energy at half the cost of conventional, silicon-based cells. The process also allows micro-solar cells to be manufactured at close to carbon neutral by re-using glass from discarded solar panels.
“Volumetric 3D printing has the potential to revolutionize the solar industry by increasing the power output two to three times that of flat silicon panels,” Clark says. “A typical flat solar panel produces 200 watts per meter squared, while our designs can reach 400-600 watts in the same area.”
体积3D打印是一个过程，能够克服低吞吐量，几何限制，结构缺陷以及通常与添加剂制造相关的缩放率关注，这是通过在单个步骤中固化对象而不是逐层固定对象。雷电竞充值
克拉克与亚历山大·利普特（Alexander Lippert）团队合作，化学副教授Southern Methodist University(SMU), to develop and commercialize a unique volumetric 3D printer, dubbed the 3D Light PAD, designed specifically for the 3D printing of a wide range of complex components for solar cell manufacturing.
该打印机通过使用可拍照的光启动剂将聚合直接直到两个不同波长的光的相交点进行操作，从而产生高分辨率的3D组件。T3DP与Astertech建立了战略合作伙伴关系，该公司与Air Force Research Laboratory(AFRL) has developed an aerosol-jet-assisted perovskite deposition method for fabricating high-quality solar cells on the complex surfaces SMU and Clark produced using their 3D Light PAD printer.
Clark’s volumetric 3D printing patent was granted last year after a four-year application process, with the IP now being utilized by volumetric 3D printing start-upxolo.
尽管没有实际的应用场景s that Clark can publicly talk about right now due to a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with xolo, he says: “While the volumetric 3D printing technology is awesome, it’s still two to three years away before we will see any major mainstream applications. However, the printer is the beachhead to my new Subzero Molding and Embossing technology that can scale the manufacturing of our micro 3D solar cell substrates from recycled solar panel glass.
“We have some continuation of patents that include a new True Volumetric Display from Lightfield Labs’ Solid Light.”
Lightfield Labs正在开发下一代全息显示技术，并得到跨国技术公司之类的支持博世which, Clark says, will have an interest in the LightPAD 3D printer and its pending patents going forwards.
Scaling solar with next-gen advanced manufacturing
Clark的零下制造技术是为了从可回收的太阳能电池板玻璃中大量生产柔性光滑的太阳能电池底物的批量生产，这些太阳能电池板不需要后处理或抛光。该过程涉及将压碎的再生玻璃与GlassomerUV Curable Resin and特森3dGenesis Development Resin and “punching” the material into a 3D spiked pyramid shape imprinted with ultra-small micro LEDs.
The technique is reportedly “thousands of times faster” than 3D printing alone, and Clark believes the technology could also be effectively applied to the semiconductor industry to improve its green footprint.
Regarding the current state of the solar energy generation field, Clark offers: “The current silicon solar sector is dominated and controlled by China. The price of Silicon was up 300 percent in 7-8 weeks last October. As this trend continues upwards I see an opportunity for the Western world to reignite an extinguished flame through advanced manufacturing of aesthetically appealing solar that will be difficult to counterfeit.
“I foresee our advanced one-step Volumetric 3D Printing and unique Subzero Forming processes to create a synergistic dichotomy to balance the solar manufacturing power back to the EU, USA, and the Western world.”
Clark also works forVillara Energy Systems, developer of the VillaGrid energy storage system which claims to deliver more power, more safety, and more useful life than traditional home batteries. While the firm isn’t using Clark’s volumetric 3D printing technology yet, he says it is plausible that someday the process could help the mass manufacturing of batteries and solar cells at the firm’s battery and solar manufacturing facility in Sacramento County, California.
Make sure to订阅我们的新闻and don’t miss the next installment of the series, where we will be looking at how 3D printing is helping to bring the hydrogen economy closer to reality.
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Featured image showsa hexagonal part of a larger solar panel by T3DP. Image via T3DP.
