Order focus: Applied Materials installs, qualifies Baccini double-print line at Motech PV cell fab

Applied Materials has installed and qualified one of its Baccini back-end lines for double-printing solar-cell applications at Motech Solar's volume production facility in Tainan, Taiwan. Applied’s recently announced Esatto technology will be used to manufacture Motech's new crystalline-silicon cell design.

Esatto (Italian for "exact"), which was officially launched by Applied in September, is designed to enable advanced contact formation techniques such as double-printed frontside metal lines and the multiple process flows required to create selective emitter structures.

The first production application, like that found at Motech, is for double-printed metal lines, which permits manufacturers to print taller, narrower grid lines, thus reducing the shadowing effect caused by wide grid lines while enhancing electrical conductivity, according to Applied. In a production environment, the company claims the new technology has allowed the replacement of single 120μm wide lines with two-layer, double-height lines <80μm wide on the finished cell.

“We’ve successfully used Baccini systems for cell production for five years," noted Kuo En Chang, president of Motech's solar division. "We recently installed Baccini’s new Esatto technology for double-printing our new cell architecture and have had outstanding results. As a long-term collaborator with Applied Baccini, we look forward to continuing our close relationship for future development.”

“We are pleased to be collaborating with Motech to further optimize the solar cell configurations in their technology roadmap,” said Davide Spotti, VP/GM of Applied’s Baccini Cell Systems. “Our Esatto technology has been specifically designed for multiple printing applications and incorporates numerous proprietary hardware and software innovations, including the integration of high resolution imaging, screen alignment, and advanced process control.

"Baccini’s systems solution, using the Esatto technology platform, provides a unique capability to help Motech and other customers upgrade Baccini lines to rapidly transition advanced cell designs to full-scale production and market acceptance,” he concluded.

Financial terms of the tool order were not disclosed.