Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara, California, US) unveils a number of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology advances at the 25th European Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU-PVSEC). The company says that it presents its advances in emitter wrap-through technology, techniques that allowed the company to create thin-film PV at efficiencies greater than 10% and factory automation software including "smart" control systems. EU-PVSEC takes place September 6-10, 2010 in Valencia, Spain.

Applied reaches 18.4% efficiency using emitter wrap-through technology

Foremost among the technologies that Applied Materials will display at EU-PVSEC are its latest advances in emitter wrap-through (EWT) technology for crystalline silicon cells, where all contacts are placed on the back of a cell. Using this technology on a p-type large-area single-crystal cell, the company has achieved efficiencies of 18.4% in research and development settings.

In addition to these higher efficiencies, Applied Materials says that EWT cells can be assembled much easier than other designs, using an automated assembly technique called monolithic model assembly, which the company says is an improvement over the "complex and error-prone process" of stringing cells together. Applied Materials says that it will also share advances in double-printing and high-speed, multi-cell deposition techniques at the conference.

Advances in thin-film technologies, factory automation

Applied Materials says that it is also sharing the techniques that have allowed the company to achieve greater than 10% efficiencies in 1.4 square meter thin-film cells, and that it will present data from Arizona and Singapore that show 8% greater yields with thin-film over crystalline silicon PV.

However, while Applied Materials has made significant progress in thin-film research and development, the company has distanced itself from thin-film manufacturing, announcing on July 21, 2010 that it would discontinue its SunFab thin-film line and invest further in crystalline silicon technologies. It remains to be seen whether or not Applied Materials' research and stated interest in thin-film results in a re-investing in production equipment lines.

Also at EU PVSEC, Applied Materials says that it is demonstrating a range of "smart" control systems that can help cell makers to obtain higher productivity, add flexibility and improve product quality. The company will present its "smart factory" automation software, as well as its E3 technology which interfaces directly with production equipment.

2010-09-07| Courtesy: Applied Materials | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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