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The substrates are then fed directly into the PV module plant (4), where a group of semicon-
ductor and metal thin-ilm deposition systems create and patern the active layers of the PV
modules. All waste semiconductors and metals are captured and returned to a semiconductor
recycling plant (5) to supplement the incoming and generally expensive high-purity materi-
als going into the deposition systems. Using a recycling process that results in a silane loss
of only 17%, instead of conventional processing that loses 85% silane, it results in an energy
savings of 81,700 GJ and prevents 4400 ton of CO
2
from being released into the atmosphere
per year for the single junction plant. Due to the increased use of silane for the relatively thick
microcrystalline Si:H layers in the tandem junction plants, the savings are even more substan-
tial—290,000 GJ of energy savings and 15.6 million kg of CO
2
eq. emission reductions per year.
This recycling process reduces the cost of raw silane by 68%, or approximately $22.6 million
per year for a 1 GW Si:H-based PV production facility and over $79 million per year for tan-
Figure 2.4
.
In each case, it is economical for the only marginally connected companies to share
information and by-products.
Even within industries themselves, it can be beneficial to adopt an open-source methodo-
logy. There are literally dozens of open-source business models for software and hardware
industry used in our example, there are at least four business models that allow the industry to
ies pull their resources to atack universal problems) and a franchise model (where resources
our pooled, but competition is limited by geographic boundaries) are examples of open-source
business systems that could operate within the current industry framework, while still al-
lowing for the sharing of information and direct collaboration. Next, the secondary industry
model (where a supplier of materials encourages open-source development to improve the
products of their downstream businesses to grow the entire market) is a method that could
be used to shift the PV industry into a more open environment. Finally, following the incred-
ible success of the open-source software model, the entire industry could be opened, similar to
Linux development, which has created billions in profit for hundreds of companies and count-
less jobs.
The PV industry is not some sort of anomaly. The same tactics can be applied to any in-
dustry. By colocating factories in ecoindustrial parks, both the transportation costs and trans-
portation energy between them can be minimized and many of the inputs for the plants
can literally come from waste products in the surrounding population centers. The use of
open-source information to map potential energy and cost savings from transportation reduc-
open-source business models enable essentially any form of company to take advantage of
industrial-scale sharing even within the industry itself with their competitors.
2.5 The Fate of Hardware Vendors: Innovate or Die
Often after people have been exposed to the concept of open-source hardware and understand
the potential for substantial cost reductions for superior equipment, they grow concerned
about the commercial enterprises that support science. For example, our group has shown
how scientists can reduce the cost of optical equipment by over 97% using the open-source
any scientific optics company, particularly if they chose to forgo continual innovation and im-
provement of their products. Thus, it is tempting to think a company like Edmund Optics that
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