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...
Optical Inspection Equipment
Defect Detection
Numerous hardware and software improvements have been introduced in GP Solar’s latest Inspect Chrome product line for inline measurement. A development in camera optics enables optimized defect detection by spectral analysis of wafers, cells, and modules. more...
Automation of Thin-Film Plant; Concentrated Photovoltaics
High Tech Solutions for Thin-film Module Production
Experience gained in flat glass technology has enabled Grenzebach to develop production machinery for photovoltaic thin-film modules and to manage the entire automation of any thin-film production plant. more...
Laser Processing of Flexible Solar Cells
Monolithic Integration
A new laser scribing system for flexible solar cells enables P1–P3 serial integration of flexible CIGS, a-Si, and organic thin-film solar cells on polymer or metal substrates, thus allowing new approaches to module design. more...
Thin-film Modules with Aluminium-doped Zinc Oxide TCO Coating Offer High Flexibility
Glass Galore
Specifically developed for photovoltaic applications, Euroglas PV Flat is a high-strength and ultra-plane solar glass showing extremely low distortion. Different glass types serve different purposes in solar modules. more...
Weather-resistant PV Backsheets
Come Wind, Come Weather
Highly productive manufacturing processes and new concepts for saving materials and energy are vital to the future viability of the solar industry. Development of innovative adhesives and sealants plays an important part in meeting the challenges facing the market, . more...
Oversupply Continues
Soaring Module Inventory Levels
Preliminary analysis from Solarbuzz shows Q3’11 global demand growing by less than 1 % quarter on quarter, but up 20 % year on year. European markets are projected to account for 58 % of Q3’11 global demand, down from 78 % in the same quarter last year. more...
Monosilane-based Polysilicon Technology
Polysilicon Production Reaches Full Operation
The successful start of production at the hydrochlorination plant for synthesis of trichlorosilane completes the commissioning of Schmid Silicon Technology’s own monosilane-based polysilicon production facility. more...
Molybdenum Sputtering Targets, Silicon Nitride Powders
Improved Cost/Watt Ratio for Photovoltaics
Molybdenum sputtering targets for back contacts in CIGS and CdTe solar modules directly address the pressing need to improve the cost/watt ratio in the manufacturing of thin film PV modules; silicon nitride crucible coatings facilitate silicon ingot production. more...
Fiber Laser
Laser Drilling of Solar Cells
Manufacturing advanced solar cell concepts like metal wrap through or emitter wrap through cells need innovative laser concepts. Ready automation of laser processing and low manufacturing costs of laser tools are key for a bright future of the solar cell industry. more...
X-ray Fluorescence Inspection
Inline Quality Control
The efficiency of a thin-film solar module is largely dependent upon the composition and homogeneity of the layer of metal applied. X-ray fluorescence provides an excellent means of monitoring these two characteristics in a production environment. more...