A unified analysis of all the silicon ribbon and sheet processes

The main sheet and ribbon silicon growth processes are discussed in the scope of their economic competitiveness for a mass production of low-cost solar cells. It is argued that the ingot approach will be superseded by material-shaping techniques mainly based on melt-growth processes. It is shown that melt-growth processes stem from the same basic principle: meniscus-controlled growth. An analysis of their growth features clearly distinguishes the WEB process from its competitors, which appear to present similar potentialities as far as the properties of the layers are concerned, the differences in their current achievements reflecting mainly their respective maturity. The future trends regarding the specific processing problems bound to these silicon shaped materials are briefly discussed.