DuPont Microcircuit Materials has introduced its next-generation frontside metallization pastes for crystalline silicon solar cells. The Solamet PV18x series pastes offer manufacturers improved productivity beyond the previous series, which the company says is the current industry benchmark.
PV18A is tailored for mono-crystalline wafers with enhanced Lightly Doped Emitters. It demonstrates efficiency gains despite less material consumption when compared to PV17F. DuPont is concurrently developing diffusion recipes in-house aimed at boosting solar cell efficiencies beyond the 19.3 percent level already demonstrated with this product.
“Now Solamet PV18x expands productivity by offering more with less – more efficiency from even better contact to LDEs together with less material required,” says Peter Brenner, global photovoltaic marketing manager.
Photovoltaic cell manufacturing is a business where excess supply continually drives down cell and module pricing. Manufacturers are looking at ways to improve productivity by increasing cell and module efficiencies and lifetimes while keeping their costs in line with the rapidly reducing module average selling price.
PV18A is the first of a new series, and plans are to continue to expand the series to address the specific needs of various market segments, such as achieving even finer lines to support further reductions in the cost of ownership of multi-crystalline cells with high RSheet LDEs.
DuPont
www.dupont.com
