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Product Briefing Outline: DR YIELD has introduced its new ‘SolarDataCenter’ software solution that allows solar cell manufacturers to deploy yield management software (YMS), statistical process control (SPC) software and advanced process control (APC) tools in one, integrated, highly modular solution. SolarDataCenter benefits from DR YIELD's experience with high data volumes in the microelectronic industry and can thus accommodate the data volume generated by manufacturing equipment, measurement and inspection tools and the cell sorters from small to large manufacturing lines. The system can handle manufacturing of solar cells in batches or on conveyer belts, with or without tracking systems.

Problem: Continued yield and productivity improvements are required to reduce production costs, resulting in the need for better systems to monitor tool operations and prevent production loss by identifying early warnings of impending manufacturing problems.

Solution: SolarDataCenter integrates data from all sources in a wafer cell factory, including cell sorter data, equipment parameters, and measurement & inspection data. With its smart, innovative data aggregation it allows handling even the largest data volumes. The intuitive Client user interface enables effective engineering analysis to support continuous improvement processes. While the yield management module facilitates effective engineering analyses with a huge range of data visualization and correlation functions, the SPC module can prevent production loss by identifying early warnings of impending manufacturing problems, and the APC module enables better distributions for optimized production. This module allows active recipe control like run-to-run forward and feedback control. By integrating these functions into one modular software solution, it allows solar cell manufacturers an easy deployment of the three most important manufacturing and engineering software systems in a manufacturing line. SolarDataCenter -Control enables better distributions for optimized production, generating higher product value. This module allows active recipe control (run-to-run  control, back- and forward-feedback).

Applications: Solar cell manufacturing lines. Independent of batch or conveyor production set-ups.

Platform: Designed as a modular system around one central data server, it covers the functionality of YMS, SPC and APC software – or just those components currently required with the option to activate other features at a future date.

Availability: May 2009 onwards.