Heraeus Photovoltaics and Ulbrich team on production of advanced ribbon technology

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Half-cut cells were pioneered by the likes of REC Group, cutting cell to module losses and boosting Watt output. Image: REC

Major solar PV materials firm Heraeus Photovoltaics has teamed with PV ribbon manufacturer Ulbrich Solar Technologies to produce a new line of Heraeus’ patented advanced ‘Selectively Coated Ribbons’ (SCR) for module manufacturing customers.

PV ribbon is the standard product to interconnect solar cells into a string to form the module. Heraeus’ SCR technology is claimed to be a breakthrough in conventional ribbon use, due the ribbon designed with stripes of highly-reflective white coating running along its edges, with the solder coating material in the middle section.

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This is said to provide a power gain of up to 2.2 Watts at the module level, including compatibility with half-cut cells. TCT 400 reliability tests were passed and 240 kWh/m² UV-DH testing were also passed, according to the company.

Dr. Weiming Zhang, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics said, “Solutions like our Selectively Coated Ribbons are another example of why we invest so heavily into R&D. This partnership with Ulbrich will help us bring this innovation to market quickly so the industry can continue to make solar the most efficient and important renewable energy source.” 

Peter Berghofer, the General Manager of Ulbrich added, “New products for module manufacturing need to meet demanding requirements and must be cost competitive, innovative and reliable. The new SCR fulfils those expectations by increasing the power of every single module without any investment or additional effort for the module manufacturers. We expect this product to be a real game changer in module manufacturing.” 

Ulbrich is expected to initially sell its Selectively Coated Ribbons in Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East, Mexico and the United States. 

Heraeus noted that Ulbrich would be starting sampling to key customers in September 2018, with several hundred megawatts of module manufacturing projected to be supported by 2019.

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.

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