BTU International to Showcase Its Latest Thermal Processing Equipment at SNEC 2012

“This is a critical year for PV manufacturers. The pressure to reduce cost while increasing cell efficiency is greater than ever,” said Jan-Paul van Maaren, Ph.D., vice president of marketing alternative energy for BTU. “Each of our systems, including the Tritan dual lane metallization firing system, the Meridian inline diffusion system, and our annealing systems, offer significant improvements in manufacturing cost, while maintaining or enhancing cell performance.”

BTU’s new Tritan HV90 dual-lane metallization firing system features increased throughput at 3600 wafers per hour, an edge support transport system, and a temperature spike faster than 3 seconds. The 90 MW metallization firing system also features BTU’s unique TriSpeed technology. TriSpeed allows users to take advantage of superior ramp rates – up to 200ºC per second – without compromising the drying and cooling sections of the profile.

The Meridian in-line diffusion system can be configured to process up to 1,600 wafers per hour providing uniform and repeatable n- and p-type emitters. The Meridian™ in-line diffusion system offers reduced wafer handling and very low breakage rates without compromise to cell efficiency.

Solar cell annealing refers to a broad range of applications whereby thermal and atmospheric treatment can enhance, improve or restore cell performance. Areas of interest include: treatment of passivation layers used in advanced cell structures, contact repair, NiSi formation and Laser Fired Contact (LFC) damage repair.