At a special awards ceremony last night in Amsterdam, DEK Solar was honored with yet another Solar Industry Award. This year, the solar industry pioneer was the recipient of the Solar Industry Award for Excellence in Innovation as recognition for its significant developments in metallization technology and positive contributions to advancing solar cell manufacturing processes.
“DEK Solar’s commitment to solar cell metallization innovation – both from a product and process perspective – is unmatched,” says DEK Solar Director, Brian Lau, who accepted the award on behalf of the entire team. “Though our customers are already acutely aware of DEK Solar’s enabling expertise, it is tremendous to have our work exposed to the wider solar community with this distinct honor. We thank the judging panel for acknowledging DEK Solar’s meaningful impact and are grateful to Solar International magazine for organizing this awards program.”
DEK Solar’s high-accuracy Eclipse and Apollo metallization platforms, along with the company’s VectorGuard Fine Line Stencil were the basis for the award win and have all previously been recipients of industry accolades and contributors to record-breaking cell efficiencies. The modular and scalable Eclipse platform is capable of producing as many as 4,000 wafers per hour (wph) and, equipped with zero-edge-contact handling technology, has breakage rates of less than 0.15%. Apollo, which has been designed for solar cell operations that require repeatability, accuracy and high performance in a small-footprint, single-line configuration, boasts accuracy of +/- 10 µm @ 2 Cpk and is equally impressive. To enable low silver paste consumption and maximum cell efficiency, DEK Solar developed its Fine Line Stencil technology, which delivers superb uniformity and high aspect ratios for exceptionally flat and uniform lines, with extremely thin, sub-40 µm line print capability. All of these innovations informed the judging panel’s decision to name DEK Solar the winner of the Excellence in Innovation category.
In addition to the Solar Industry Award, members of the DEK Solar team have also been sought out to share their market knowledge and metallization expertise. Recently, DEK Solar Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Xiao Chen, was invited to speak at a seminar in Beijing, China hosted by the China PV Industry Alliance. His presentation, which focused on metallization innovation and the future of the solar market, is also the subject of an October 2014 cover story interview with the Photovoltaic Energy Industry Observer. At next month’s Fifth Annual Metallization Workshop set to take place on 20 and 21 October in Constance, Germany, DEK Solar Principal Engineer, Tom Falcon will participate in the event, during which results of collaborative work with the Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) will be presented. The paper, entitled “Optimized Stencil Printing for Low Ag Paste Consumption and High Conversion Efficiencies”, details record-breaking 21.2% cell efficiency achieved with contributions from DEK Solar’s Eclipse platform and Fine Line Stencil technology. This impressive work has also been selected as a cover story and appears in the September 2014 issue of Photovoltaics International magazine.
“DEK Solar’s team and technology continue to make substantive, enabling contributions that progress next-generation solar technology,” comments Lau in conclusion. “Our dedication to and investment in the advancement of the solar industry is unwavering. We are very gratified that this continues to be noticed by our peers in the solar community.”
For more information, visit www.dek.com. To register for the upcoming Metallization Workshop 2014, click here.
About ASM Assembly Systems, Printing Solutions Division
ASM Assembly Systems’ Printing Solutions Division is the market-leading provider of DEK brand printing technologies. The DEK range of products and services includes advanced materials deposition technologies and support solutions including screen and stencil printing equipment platforms, metallization platforms, stencils, precision screens and process support products used for a variety electronics assembly, semiconductor packaging and alternative energy applications. For more information, visit www.dek.com.
About The SMT Solutions Segment of ASMPT
With the integration of DEK into ASM Pacific Technology (ASMPT) in July 2014, ASM Assembly Systems consists of the Printing Solutions Division (DEK) and the Placement Solutions Division (SIPLACE). ASM Assembly Systems develops and distributes best-in-class DEK printers, stencils and printing accessories for the SMT, semiconductor and solar markets, as well as best-in-class SIPLACE SMT placement solutions. Both Divisions leverage the power of ASM’s development capabilities to deliver significant competitive advantages to customers. By sharing its knowledge and expertise, the SMT Solutions Segment of ASM provides electronics manufacturing companies worldwide with more effective process integration technology and optimized workflows.
