Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

Product Briefing Outline: Sixtron Advanced Materials has introduced a patent-pending antireflective passivation coating technology that it says will greatly reduce the light-induced degradation (LID) problem for crystalline-silicon solar cells. The company claims to have demonstrated an 88% reduction in LID on cells treated with its silane-free ‘Silexium’ coating. The Silexium films can be used with high-performance mono-crystalline boron doped p-type Cz (Czochralski) silicon solar cells without the use of silane gas.

Product Briefing Outline: Xiris Automation has released the PVCI-1500 Machine Vision Platform targeted at crystalline silicon cell and wafer inspection. Optimized for inspection of solar cells as an incoming single-pass quality check, the PVCI-1500 combines specially designed optical components with fast analysis software, ensuring precise detection and classification of physical defects arising from shipping and handling.

Product Briefing Outline: SunPower has introduced the next generation of its T20 Tracker, which it claims is the most powerful solar tracker on the market today, incorporating SunPower's high-efficiency 128-cell, 400-watt solar panels for maximum energy output.

Product Briefing Outline: The Schmid Group has launched a new Tabber Stringer created in cooperation with the Wolf company. The system is designed to offer high precision performance combined with minimum handling and a soldering method that is claimed to reduce the risk of cell damage during processing and handling.

Product Briefing Outline: The RFS and RFS-D Fast Firing Systems and the RDS 2100 and 3000 drying ovens feature Rehm Thermal Systems Visu2 software, which drives a range of advanced process features and thermal control to enable PV manufacturers to move their processes to greater levels of efficiency and yield. Visu2 incorporates process and product traceability tools, remote diagnostics and an extensive product library within an intuitively designed interface that is claimed to dramatically accelerate set up time and reduces operator training.

Product Briefing Outline: Kaneka has introduced a newly developed ‘Hybrid’ PV module to the US market. The Hybrid PV module uses tandem junction cells, employing a microcrystalline thin-film silicon layer and the thin-film amorphous silicon layer. The new module is said to achieve a maximum 42% higher energy conversion efficiency than Kaneka's conventional thin-film amorphous silicon PV module. The nominal power of the Hybrid PV module is 110Wp.

Product Briefing Outline: Solar Metrology, a provider of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis tools, has expanded its SMX XRF tool portfolio for film composition and thickness measurement of CIGS photovoltaic depositions with the addition of the System SMX-ISI.

Product Briefing Outline: DEK Solar and Heller Industries have unveiled the results of a recent collaboration that enhances DEK’s PV3000 metallization line. The alliance between the screen printing and thermal technology specialists has enabled a significant breakthrough in solar cell production, incorporating precise thermal control, improved VOC management and reduced power consumption, within a compact footprint.

Product Briefing Outline: Despatch Industries has introduced the ‘UltraFlex’ dryer and firing furnace with ‘Microzone’ Technology. This new tool is designed to provide next generation capabilities in performance, profile flexibility and reduced cost of ownership.

Product Briefing Outline: Saflex, a unit of Solutia, has launched a new thin gauge polyvinyl butyral (PVB) based encapsulant designed specifically for photovoltaic applications. The new product, Saflex PA41, is claimed to significantly reduce encapsulant usage by 33%, while maintaining module durability and processing performance. The global launch of Saflex PA41 comes shortly after successful completion of IEC 61646 certification, with testing on thin-film modules. Saflex also partnered with module manufacturers to confirm that handling, processing, and throughput of Saflex PA41 met or exceeded expectations compared to thicker gauge PVB encapsulations.