Technologies for the complete photovoltaic production chain on show at Productronica

Germans are not only the pioneers in installing solar energy systems; 20 percent of all solar cells produced in the world come from Germany*), and consequently the share in the 6.5 billion US dollar photovoltaic (PV) world market is very substantial. Global sales of solar technology will grow to 16.4 billion US dollars by 2012 according to the marketing research institute Frost & Sullivan. The scarcity of solar silicon will slow the growth for a short time until probably 2009. Then, new production technologies in the form of innovative thin-film technologies will give a fresh impetus to the industry. Productronica, will show the corresponding production systems for manufacturing solar cells, modules and systems according to state-of-the-art technology as a new exhibition highlight within the successful MicroNanoWorld.

MicroNanoWorld has been an integral exhibition focal point for microelectronics and nanotechnology for electronics in Munich since 2005 and facilitates high level knowledge transfer. At Productronica 2007, the application-intensive MicroNanoWorld in Hall B5 will show materials for microproduction, production processes for microsystems and micro assembly as well as measurement and testing technologies. In addition to photovoltaics, new topics this year are the production technologies for organic electronics.

The close relationship between the manufacturing methods for solar cells and semiconductors – as well as between LCD and plasma screens – makes Productronica the ideal platform for highlighting photovoltaic production. For example, wafers 0.3 mm thick made of high-purity solar silicon are processed in crystalline solar technology. A major trend in photovoltaics is the search for alternatives to the rare and expensive basic component -high-grade silicon. The thin-film modules should be less expensive, but also have a long life and multifaceted uses. For example, resource-saving amorphic silicon is steamed in ultra-thin layers on glass. Triple-junction thin-film silicon solar cells, which absorb red, green/yellow and blue light with help of three superimposed semiconductor layers, also achieve an especially high degree of effectiveness. Silicon can be eliminated altogether, for example, with cadmium-telluride modules (CdTe) or via production using CIS technology (copper indium selenium), in which an active copper indium selenium (CuInSe2) layer only a few micrometers thick is placed directly on a large area of glass.

The complete range of electronics production is employed in manufacturing solar energy systems: starting from wafer or film production to cell production and connection to solar modules to handling in automation and all the way to measuring and testing technologies for the modules. The number of suppliers of production technology for photovoltaic manufacturing will be correspondingly large at Productronica 2007. These exhibiting include Gebr. Schmid, Freudenstadt, ASYS Automatisierungssysteme GmbH, FAP GMBH Dresden, Hilpert electronics AG, Newport Spectra-Physics GmbH and Schlenk Metallfolien, among others. * Source: PHOTON International