Shift of Focus to Fast-growing Module and Project Business
Schott Solar to Close Down Wafer Production
German Schott Solar AG is continuing with its realignment efforts and will close down its wafer manufacturing activities at its site in Jena. The company announced that it will be concentrating on its fast-growing module and project business. more...
Automatic Identification Assures Greater Reliability
Traceability for Control
Photovoltaic manufacturers place high demands on the traceability of their solar modules. Intelligent identification systems ensure reliable detection of the product ID or batch number. They reduce the risk of manufacturing defects while at the same time meeting the demand of maximum possible production reliability. more...
Fast Junction Box Connection Technology for Automated Production Process
Designed for Automation
Junction box assembly is one of the last process-relevant steps in photovoltaic module produc-tion and essentially defines the interface between module and PV system. A new connection technology is especially designed for production lines with a high level of automation. more...
Singulus Machines Key Components
Avancis Starts 100 MWp CIS Production
Avancis, manufacturer of CIS solar modules, has commenced production in its second factory at company headquarters in Torgau, Germany. more...
Faster Encapsulation
Collaboration between DuPont and Bürkle Doubles Module Output
DuPont Photovoltaic Encapsulants and Bürkle North America, Inc. have cooperated in speeding up module lamination. Using new DuPont PV5400 Series encapsulant, an Ypsator laminator can produce up to twice as many glass/glass solar modules per hour as traditional laminators. more...
Automation of Soldering
No Energy Wasted
In order to economically manufacture customer-specific machines, Somont, a manufacturer of stringer soldering machines, relies on modular automation systems and rail-mounted terminal blocks for connection technology. more...
Linear drive technology with laser sensor system and safety engineering
Knowing User Demands
Effectively quality testing can be accomplished by well-conceived integration of quality control into the production process. In addition to testing expertise and the appropriate inspection technology, such a step also requires reliable and dynamic materials handling engineering. more...
Robot-manufactured cells for the photovoltaic industry
Fast and Precise – with Due Care
Handling of thin silicon wafers before and after the wet bench is performed by robots. Here the requirements are clearly defined: the shortest possible cycle times with the lowest possible rate of breakage – a balancing act that can only be accomplished using automation at the very highest level. more...
What is the current outlook for the photovoltaic industry?
Hype and Disenchantment
After the boom of 2010, the economic downturn in the photovoltaic sector in 2011 has been all the more brutal. Has the sun set on the PV era? No. This industry is merely going through the usual structural changes common to practically all industries – but at breakneck pace. Seen in the longer term, the future belongs to the solar industry. Let me present a brief analysis. more...
Sealing and Bonding Benefits
Assembly of Thin Film Modules with New Back End Processes
Production costs of thin film modules can be further reduced by introducing new back-end processes. To find the optimum contacting solution, the pros and cons of each technology must be compared together with their suitability for the different connections in a thin film module, keeping the whole current path in mind. It is also important to determine which contacting technology works well in order to gain an meaningful cost comparison of different processes. more...
Partially Automated Production Line
Flexibility Counts
The façades of buildings are ideal photovoltaic surfaces. PV Products has invested in a production line enabling cost-effective manufacture of crystalline glass-film and glass-glass modules in just about any color or format to meet a wide range of customer wishes. more...
Interdigitated Back-Contact Silicon Solar Cells
Efficiencies Exceeding 23%
Imec, together with its silicon photovoltaic industrial affiliation program partners Schott Solar, Total, Photovoltech, GDF-SUEZ, Solland Solar, Kaneka, and Dow Corning, has demonstrated a conversion efficiency of 23.3% for interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon solar cells. more...
GCL-Poly to Boost Polysilicon Production
Polysilicon Counterculture
GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. is raising $ 236m to increase polysilicon production capacity amid a global surplus and against a background of plummeting prices for this key material. more...
Panasonic to Produce Solar Wafers, Cells, and Modules in Malaysia
Greater Cost-competitiveness in Global Market
Panasonic Corporation is poised to establish a company in Malaysia that will serve as its new solar manufacturing base. Panasonic Energy Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., to be set up in December 2011, will operate a vertically-integrated solar manufacturing facility producing from wafers to cells and modules. more...
First Solar Tops 5 GW Photovoltaic Production
Enough Power for 2.5 Million Homes
Cumulative production by Tempe/Arizona-headquartered First Solar, Inc. has just topped 66 million solar modules, equivalent to a generation capacity of 5 GW or enough to power some 2.5 million homes. more...
Manz to Acquire CIGS Module Line from Würth Solar
Preparing for Hands-on Innovation
Reutlingen-based PV production systems provider Manz has signed a letter of intent to acquire Würth Solar’s CIGS solar module production line in Schwäbisch Hall, together with all associated CIGS licences and know-how. more...
Laser Sources
Enhanced Productivity, Lower Costs for Solar Thin-film Industry
Among the wide range of laser sources for solar thin-film edge deletion applications available from Rofin, the 1000-watt DQ010 laser is the one offering the highest laser power for such purposes. This device allows fast processing of up to 80 cm²/s, ensuring high productivity. more...
Laser Edge Isolation Replaced by Ten-lane Wet-chemical Edge Isolation
Modernizing to Compete
The photovoltaics market has become a buyer’s market, with the drive for higher cell efficiencies in full swing. Slackening demand for solar cells with efficiencies lower than about 16.4 % was recently reported by Digitimes, a Taiwanese industry information service . more...
Largest Renewable Energy Investment in Germany in 2010
Thin-Film Module Capacity Doubled to 500 MW
Arizona-based First Solar, major US producer of thin-film solar modules, recently opened its new plant expansion in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. The $200 m investment effectively doubles the company’s production capacity in Germany to 500 MW annually. more...
Purge Gas Recovery
Reduced CO2 Footprint for Silicon Ingot Manufacturers
The ArgonØ recovers and recycles up to 95% of the purge gas from silicon vacuum furnaces utilising technology jointly developed by Gas Recovery & Recycle Ltd and Cambridge University. Furnace users can recover and re-utilise purge gas at a purity level of 99.9998%. more...