Features

Product Briefing Outline: Testbourne Limited is now offering an extensive range of cast, plasma sprayed and extruded rotating cylindrical metal and ceramic sputtering targets. Rotatable targets are proving to be increasingly popular in the PV industry due to various advantages over planar sputtering targets. The most commonly used C-MAG rotary targets are available in Chromium, Silver, Aluminium-Silicon, Tin, Titanium Oxide, Stainless steel, Aluminium, Tungsten, Tantalum, Molybdenum, Niobium, Copper and Zinc alloys.

Product Briefing Outline: Pasan SA has introduced a new electronic load that is more accurate and offers several additional features for the testing of solar cells and modules. This electronic load not only is fitted to module and cell flashers, but also can be combined with continuous light sources. Furthermore the equipment is suitable for outdoor testing.

In our first full year online, we have steadily increased the number of new products we have reviewed and also seen the new products section gain increasingly greater traffic levels throughout the year. Looking through the traffic numbers, we have identified the Top 5 most popular reviews of new products for your enjoyment.

Product Briefing Outline: Newport Corporation has introduced the latest addition to its industry-leading portfolio of Photovoltaic development solutions – the PV ‘IsoStation’ Series Workstations.  Newport’s PV IsoStation Workstation is a, 36”x 60” ergonomic workstation specifically designed for PV test and development applications.  It features integrated storage and shelving for instruments, solar simulators and other devices and a specially treated worksurface that reduces light reflectivity by a factor of six compared to typical optical table surfaces.  The PV IsoStation workstation is ideal for a wide range of photovoltaic applications.

Product Briefing Outline: Silicon Genesis has successfully produced solar substrates for the PV industry using its ‘kerf-free’ wafering process technology called ‘PolyMax’. The company has started production of the first ever kerf-free 150um solar-cell substrates at its new solar development and pilot production facility. In addition to saving poly, the wafers are claimed to be significantly more resistant to breakage than conventional wafers using its proprietary equipment.

Product Briefing Outline: Rohm and Haas Company has launched its new line of ‘Enlight’ materials suite of products for crystalline silicon cell photovoltaic manufacturing. The Enlight product suite is designed to improve traditional solar cell processing by increasing cell efficiency and increasing manufacturing yields.

Product Briefing Outline: Angstrom Sciences has developed a rotating cylindrical magnetron assembly that is  compact, economical and lightweight. By utilizing the patented technology already incorporated into other ‘Onyx’-series magnetrons, Angstrom Sciences provides a 10.6° deposition profile, 85%+ target utilization and power savings up to 20% compared to conventional cylindrical magnetrons.

Product Briefing Outline: Five Star Technologies has introduced the ‘ElectroSperse’ S-series solar inks for use in crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. Five Star’s S-500 series, silver-based conductive inks, will allow solar cell makers to lay out front side grid lines as narrow as 80-100 microns---much thinner than the 120-175-micron width of conventional contacts. The company’s S-600 products--low-bow, lead-free, aluminum-based pastes, intended for back surface field layers--have been designed to co-fire at temperatures compatible with the S-500 silver inks and thus simplify the latter’s adoption.

The news that Sharp and Enel are to build the world's first 1GW thin-film manufacturing plant in Europe (Italy) at a cost of over $1 billion, is a significant move by Sharp to remain a major force within the PV industry. From any angle the move is impressive and bold and reinforces the direction the industry is going, even if that trend is only in its infancy.