centrotherm is launching the ‘c.REG’ conveyor belt furnace for monocrystalline p-type solar cell regeneration, which is claimed to achieve a reduction in light induced degradation (LID) from 6% to 1%, within less than a one minute processing cycle time. The company is showcasing the regeneration technology at SNEC 2015, being held in Shanghai, China.
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After being exposed to light monocrystalline silicon solar cells suffer performance losses due to light induced degradation (LID). In general, this effect, which is ascribed to boron-oxygen (B-O) complex in the wafer bulk, lowers conversion efficiency by up to 6 % in the long term.
Solution
To avoid B-O-defects, centrotherm developed a regeneration process and the corresponding key equipment c.REG that potentially reduces LID to 1% only. Within the regeneration process boron-oxygen defects responsible for light induced degradation (LID) are passivated and transformed into a less active state in order to minimize performance losses. The regeneration process can be implemented directly after fast firing, after sorting or even before module manufacturing and is applicable to both, Al-BSF (Aluminium Back Side Field) and PERC solar cells. Process time ranges between 20 and 45 seconds depending on wafer material and pre-processing.
Applications
Regeneration of Cz-Si solar cells.
Platform
c.REG is a stand-alone regeneration equipment based on the modular design of centrotherm conveyor belt furnaces with a small footprint. The process chamber is designed in a modular concept matching different requirements of wafer material with up to 3 modules possible that is notable for an optimum process sequence, time and calibration. The system comes with integrated heater and belt transfer handling and has a throughput (at 5100 mm/min) of 3600 wafers/hr.
Availability
May 2015 onwards
