Longstanding contributors to the magazine, Merck, and RENA deliver an upgrade concept that opens the door to excellent profitability. PES explains more…
We are living in turbulent times and, where there is overcapacity and shrinking margins, solar cell manufacturers tend to look for solutions that will improve competitiveness and profitability. And while short-term strategies are necessary, the focus tends to shift to mid-term market recovery and the hope of gaining a better position and subsequently market share.
Solar cell producers are currently being driven by ‘Dollar per Watt’ considerations, particularly in the present market situation of FIT reductions and discussions of affordable energy sources in general.
This in turn drives the vital task of optimising production costs and moving to smarter cell designs – a trigger for the trend to high-efficiency solar cell concepts which is becoming essential for this industry.
Merck understands these considerations and it has developed an efficient selective emitter concept using the isishape SmartEtch patterning material. It achieves a proven efficiency gain of 0.5% absolute – with potential for more.
Similarly, in cooperation with RENA, which has developed the InClean cleaning device specially designed for isishape materials, an attractive ‘upgrade package’ has become available.
The result of this newly-available approach is to make use of some parts of idle standard solar cell lines, thereby offering a simple way to higher competitiveness and profitability with minimal investment at the same time. It’s a simple solution based on high-tech thinking.
As it consists of an easy standard screen printing and heating step, it is recommended to relocate the available printer and the oven. This means that only the cleaning step needs a small investment in additional equipment.
Here, RENA’s InClean can be used as an upgrade for existing lines or integrated into a RENA InOxSide tool for junction isolation and PSG removal (PSG: Phosphor Glass).
Merck’s isishape pastes – which are screen-printable and environmentally friendly to use – ensure homogeneous and firmly controllable etching. They are HF/HNO3-free and no solvents or detergents are needed for rinsing- only water.
