Thin-film PV module manufacturer Signet Solar has chosen inline metrology systems from Dr. Schenk for its volume production fab. Signet will use the quality and process control gear in its factory near Dresden, which houses the first TFPV manufacturing site to receive factory acceptance for an Applied Materials-supplied SunFab turnkey line.
“The mass production identifies problems that can only be overcome by integrating additional inline metrology,” said Gunter Ziegnebalg, managing director of Signet Solar. “We do not want to run the line in blind flight, therefore we decided to monitor the process, to further improve it, and to control the quality of our modules with the solutions of the market leader Dr. Schenk.”
Dr. Schenk recently launched its SolarMeasure suite of products for measuring the physical and electrical characteristics of PV panels; the line includes tools for electrical insulation testing, haze and layer thickness monitoring, and resistivity and dimension measurement.