• APCVD is a factor of success for the production of PERC cells
Freudenstadt: The SCHMID Group considers itself well prepared for today’s requirements of the cell manufacturers in the PV market. With the 5500 Series APCVD conveyor furnace a well-proven system is available for the industrial mass production of highly efficient cells already on duty in specific application domains, such as is the preparation of doped glasses in the semiconductor industry.
Dr. Christian Buchner, Vice President of Business Unit PV SCHMID Group considers SCHMID to be well positioned to meet the current requirements coming from China. “We carefully read the binding guidelines of the Chinese government for investments in the solar industry and feel reassured in our prediction that in the short and medium term only PV manufacturers will survive who are now investing in new equipment, enabling the production of high-performance solar cells with an efficiency of more than 20%. For our turnkey solutions we guarantee 18% efficiency in the production of multi-crystalline cells, and 20% for mono-crystalline cells. The readiness to invest is given, but only in highly efficient technology”.
With regard to the PERC production process SCHMID is the only equipment manufacturer to offer a complete process from a single source. SCHMID’s PERC portfolio ranges from rear side cleaning and APCVD coating up to laser opening of the coated rear side. All systems can be easily integrated into already existing production lines and offer the lowest cost in the market. According to the calculations of the SCHMID Group application of the required passivation layers and covering layers with the APCVD is about 40-50% cheaper than with alternative ALD or PECVD processes. PERC cells consist of crystalline silicon. For rear side passivation a layer of aluminum oxide is deposited on the base material by means of APCVD. The backside coating is completed by two covering layers, also produced by the APCVD. Depending on the wafer material the PERC cells reach average efficiency values of 20% – 20.5% on Cz and 18% -18.5% on mc-Si, when applying the SCHMID process.
