Ultrathin flexible crystalline silicon: Microsystems enabled photovoltaics

Reducing the thickness of crystalline silicon wafers has evolved in the solar industry. As of 2010, most of the silicon solar cell companies were working with 6 inch wafers with thicknesses between 180 and 200 µm. In addition, a significant portion of the crystalline silicon material is lost during sawing. The effective material usage is equivalent to a wafer with a thickness of 310–475 µm depending on the thickness of the cut wire. Although there is a strong cost driver to use thinner wafers, handling wafers thinner than 180 µm is challenging while maintaining adequate yield. We present an approach to create ultrathin ( 15%), highly-flexible PV modules should be possible with this approach.