• 

  Start-up company Nines Photovoltaics raises €750,000 to build processing tool

  8 hours ago

  PV equipment start-up, Nines Photovoltaics, has raised €750,000 to further develop and build its dry etching silicon wafer tool. The Dublin, Ireland-based firm started operations in 2010 and has been collaborating with the Fraunhofer ISE, with plans for the tool to be validated at its pilot production line. The company has raised to date to over €2.5 million, including €1.2 million through FP7 European Funding, which was announced in June 2011. The new funding will also be used to recruit additional staff, according to the company.

• 

  Cost cutting at Applied Materials solar division as orders down 62%

  17 February 2012, 19:59

  Overcapacity within the PV industry hit Applied Materials sales and orders in its financial first quarter, leading to further cost reductions within its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) division. New orders in the segment were down 62% to only US$33 million, while sales of US$207 million were down 34% on the prior quarter. The segment had a non-GAAP operating loss of US$17 million and a GAAP operating loss of US$23 million. Overall, Applied generated orders of US$2.01 billion and net sales of US$2.19 billion, exceeding guidance.

• 

  Yingli Green signs US$100 million materials deal with DuPont

  13 February 2012, 22:02

  Following-on from an RD&E collaboration between DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions and Yingli Green Energy in January, 2011 the companies have signed a new US$100 million strategic agreement, that will see Yingli Green purchase DuPont’s ‘Solamet’ metallization pastes and ‘Tedlar’ polyvinyl fluoride backsheet for its solar modules. The agreement is designed to extend DuPont and Yingli commercial relationships and material supply availability.

• Amtech revenue falls 59%; guides lower sales in FY2Q12

  13 February 2012, 08:01

• IMS Research: PV manufacturing equipment replacement cycle a US$25 billion revenue opportunity

  10 February 2012, 12:49

• Roth & Rau posts 2011 revenue of €208 million; plans faster restructuring and job losses

  06 February 2012, 17:38

• 

  Electroluminescence inspection system from Vitronic provides solar cell defect management

  31 January 2012, 17:23

  Vitronic’s VINSPECsolar electroluminescence inspection system is designed to detect defects within solar cells that could influence electrical performance of the solar module. By using electroluminescence inspection, all defect areas are automatically detected, displayed and classified by relevant software before lamination, so that reworking can increase the module’s efficiency. Archived electroluminescence images of the finished module also serve as proof of the delivered quality.

• 

  Stäubli offering TP80 four-axis fast pick and place machine with over 200 picks per minute

  25 January 2012, 12:28

  Stäubli Robotics has launched the TP80 fast Picker, an ultrafast four-axis new technology of high-speed pickers for standard pick & place applications, delivering speeds of more than 200 picks per minute and more flexibility at a lower cost, according to the company.

• 

  Tanaka provides silver ink hardened by UV irradiation under room temperature conditions

  24 January 2012, 17:18

  Tanaka Precious Metals has introduced what it claims is the world’s first conductive silver ink capable of forming electronic circuits using only hardening by ultraviolet (UV) light without the need for hardening by heating. A total of three silver inks using different types of resin and reaction initiator will be available and users can select the materials according to their manufacturing equipment and application.

• Tritan HV90 dual-lane metallization firing system from BTU features 3600 wafers per hour throughput

  23 January 2012, 07:00

• c.FIRE fast firing furnace from centrotherm offers compact footprint

  12 December 2011, 14:51

• Isra Vision’s ‘SOLARSCAN-Bevel’ system provides short-circuit protection

  21 November 2011, 11:05

• Investigations into laser edge isolation (LEI) of mc-Si solar cells using ns- and ps-laser radiation

  In the photovoltaic industry, laser edge isolation (LEI) is a well-established process at the end of the process chain. However, because the cell properties vary from one cell producer to the next, no systematic approach is defined in industry for establishing an efficient isolation groove. Nevertheless, a general approach has to be defined for analyzing the LEI process for silicon solar cells. Besides the material aspects and laser parameters, atmospheric boundary conditions must be considered. This paper presents investigations into the ablation of a specific type of mc-silicon solar cell, and the most suitable laser, as well as the ambient parameters, is determined based on the results of the experiments.

• A novel technological process for p-type back-contact solar cells

  A new production process for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, specifically p-type back-contact solar cells, is proposed. In contrast to the conventional c-Si solar cell manufacturing method, this new technology eliminates the etching process and reduces the industrial three-step electrode printing to only one step, greatly improving the technological process. Furthermore, the proposed process is also largely compatible with a traditional c-Si solar cell production line. Oxidation technology for producing the SiO2 film on a c-Si wafer, together with corrosive window technology, such as through HF corrosive paste screen printing, for creating the patterning on the wafer covered with SiO2 film, are used in the fabrication of the p-type back-contact solar cells.

• Emitter wrap-through solar cells – status and perspectives

• The influence of etch depth on electrical properties of solar cells

• High-efficiency rear-passivated screenprinted silicon solar cells

• Exploiting the microelectronics toolbox to boost Si PV manufacturing

Most Popular

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• News
• Blog Posts
• TV & Video

• 1. PV-Tech Newscast - February 17, 2012

• 2. MEMC catches its breath after US$1.48 billion loss

• 3. Utilities take control with a copper-bottomed trend for inverters

• 4. Trina Solar remains committed to 500MW solar cell and module capacity expansion

• 5. Suntech guides 2011 revenue topped US$3.13 billion; recorded impairment charges of US$571 million

• 1. MEMC catches its breath after US$1.48 billion loss

• 2. Trina Solar remains committed to 500MW solar cell and module capacity expansion

• 3. Suntech guides 2011 revenue topped US$3.13 billion; recorded impairment charges of US$571 million

• 4. Competitive pricing leads to Chinese Tier-2 crystalline PV modules prices dropping to US$0.96/W

• 5. Leading manufacturers collaborate to update International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaics

• 1. PV module costs and prices–what is really happening?

• 2. Other than First Solar, who holds a low-cost manufacturing benchmark?

• 3. Solar short takes: Suniva implements ion implantation, First Solar turns knobs, CIGS gets purified

• 4. Don’t look now, but UK PV installation figures are out

• 5. Eye on Stion, Part II: Getting a taste of tandem-junction CIGS PV layer cake

• 1. PV-Tech Newscast - September 8, 2011

• 2. PV-Tech Newscast - September 2, 2011

• 3. Canadian Solar: Dr. Shawn Qu discusses ELPS technology & ‘virtually-integrated scale’ manufacturing

• 4. PV-Tech Newscast - September 30 2011

• 5. PV-Tech Newscast – November 25, 2011

Publications

• 

  Photovoltaics International 14th Edition

  Published in November 2011, the 14th edition of Photovoltaics International provides a variety of technical papers from some of the industry’s stalwarts. Features include: TÜV Rheinland on junction box testing; Laser Zentrum Hannover on laser edge isolation of mc-Si cells; Calisolar on the importance of traceability; Fraunhofer ISE on EWT cells; and EPIA on Europe’s LCOE.

• 

  Photovoltaics International Lite, Volume 05 - 2011

  This digital interactive Lite sees Tom Cheyney follow Agua Caliente’s progress on becoming one of first truly utility-scale PV power farms, where 40–50MW (AC) will be commissioned by the end of the year. We also feature one of the world’s largest silicon thin-film PV power plants, Avenal; a report on warnings of the collapse of module prices from Solarbuzz and PI-Berlin presents tips on PV module testing. A print version of this edition will be distributed at Solar Power International 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

• 

  Manufacturing The Solar Future: The 2011 Production Annual

  Manufacturing the Solar Future is the primary source guide for detailed information on the PV production process. This annual provides technical details on how the leading companies and research organizations worldwide are addressing this need by dramatically improving their manufacturing processes.