Cost reduction manufacturing

As with ah thin-film PV technologies, the projected manufacturing costs of a-Si H ahoy PV modules fah rapidly with annual manufacturing volume, ie, MWp /yr. The primary driver of this volume cost reduction is the volume—cost relationship of commercially available thin-film processing equipment. Thin-film coating machines often have capacities equivalent to 3—5 yr, so that manufacturing economies of scale are more fully realized at the... 

Standard turboexpander-compressor sets designed and manufactured by competent manufactureres embody many of the reliability improvement and maintenance cost reduction features inherent in API (American Petroleum Institute) standards for other turbomachines. To achieve close compliance, however, the owner/purchasers must know their specific needs or requirements. Nevertheless, it may not be practical, feasible, or economically justified to achieve full compliance with API specifications, which were generally devised without giving thought to the peculiarities of turboexpanders and their sometimes differing operating environments. 

Before setting about the task of developing such a model, the product development process requires definition along with an indication of its key stages, this is so the appropriate tools and techniques can be applied (Booker et al., 1997). In the approach presented here in Figure 5.11, the product development phases are activities generally defined in the automotive industry (Clark and Fujimoto, 1991). QFD Phase 1 is used to understand and quantify the importance of customer needs and requirements, and to support the definition of product and process requirements. The FMEA process is used to explore any potential failure modes, their likely Occurrence, Severity and Detectability. DFA/DFM techniques are used to minimize part count, facilitate ease of assembly and project component manufacturing and assembly costs, and are primarily aimed at cost reduction. 

The certification business has grown enormously in the last ten years. The International Accreditation Forum (lAF) recorded 616 accredited certification bodies in January 1999. The experience of the vehicle manufacturers with ISO 9000 certification led them to question the wisdom of so many certification bodies chasing the same business in a competitive market. The results seemed to indicate that cost reductions by the certification bodies led to a decline in the quality of auditing and that was the opposite of what the vehicle manufacturers wanted. The vehicle manufacturers had not seen a significant rise in product quality as a result of ISO 9000 and they believed this was partially due to the quality of the accreditation and certification schemes being operated as well as inadequacies in the quality system standard. When the four national automotive schemes were launched, great emphasis was placed on regulating more closely the accreditation and certification schemes. From a customer perspective, the ISO 10011 scheme had some particular problems ... 

There has been an accelerated interest in polymer electrolyte fuel cells within the last few years, which has led to improvements in both cost and performance. Development has reached the point where motive power applications appear achievable at an acceptable cost for commercial markets. Noticeable accomplishments in the technology, which have been published, have been made at Ballard Power Systems. PEFC operation at ambient pressure has been validated for over 25,000 hours with a six-cell stack without forced air flow, humidification, or active cooling (17). Complete fuel cell systems have been demonstrated for a number of transportation applications including public transit buses and passenger automobiles. Recent development has focused on cost reduction and high volume manufacture for the catalyst, membranes, and bipolar plates. 

Cost reductions usually arise out of improvements to the process control for both continuous and batch processes. Process analyzers enable chemical composition to be monitored essentially in real time. This in turn allows control of the process to be improved by shortening start-up and transition times (for continuous processes) or batch cycle times (for batch processes). This is accomplished by improving the ability to respond to process disturbances, by enabling process oscillations to be detected and corrected, and by reducing product variability. Real-time monitoring of chemical composition in a process allows a manufacturing plant to ... 

Reduced cost of manufacturing equipment. Cost reductions of 30% compared with the equivalent batch plant have been claimed [7]. 

Despite the clear focus on cost reduction, due regard should also be given to product and process safety. For PV to become widely adopted at the Gigawatts (GWp) scale with a large production workforce and components distributed on millions of commercial and domestic roofs, then safe systems must be inherent in future products. Safety must start with the materials, equipment and the process of manufacture, and include the product safety for system installation and, most importantly, any long-term fire and health aspects of unattended PV systems. 

In Japan, the focus of PEM work is now on reducing the manufacturing cost of PEM systems. METI and NEDO will continue R D on fuel cells to meet performance targets, durability, and cost reductions toward future commercialisation, primarily focusing on R D for relevant system and production technologies and components such as membrane, electrode, MEA and separators. Program elements... 

Phase 3 Market Expansion (10-20 years)-work will seek cost reductions of fuel cells through the development of large-scale manufacturing (mass production) continue hydrogen supply infrastructure development on a national level refinement of policy measures (fiscal and regulatory) and, continue support of RD D in areas of new advancements in hydrogen and fuel cells. 

The main drivers for both equipment and chemistry are cost reduction, energy reduction, and environmental issues (sustainability, "green" raw materials, reduced volatile organic compound (VOC), reduced toxicity, lowering odor, reduced defects and manufacturing scrap). 

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