NCD supplied Full Automation for Lucida GS Series to Tongwei Solar

NCD has recently supplied Full Automation System to Chinese Tongwei Solar for solar cell manufacturing ALD equipment. This is Full Automation System including pitch changer to supply wafers automatically to Lucida GS ALD Series which had already installed in the customer site for high quality Al2O3 thin film deposition. The connection of ALD and Full Automation System to handle wafers automatically will make faster and more convenient ALD process.

In the future, the sales of Full Automation System along with ALD equipment will be increasing because most customers will need more productivity and more efficiency of work. 

Lucida™ GS Series + Automation

German research cluster reduce the cost for PECVD PERC solar cell passivation

The efficiency of solar cells can be increased by the PERC technology (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell). The current yield increases because the back of the solar cell is passivated. However, additional process steps are needed for the production process adding to the over all production cost.

 

Circular Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Calculated electron energy distribution for circular ICP plasma Induced electric field strength calculated from ICP coil current (Picture from SIMPLEX) 

 

Most commonly used passivation layers are aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or silicon nitride (SiNx) and until now Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has been able to produce th highest layer quality enable the use of thinner layer thickness and hence also save material cost (TMA precursor).

The German Federal research project Simplex has succeeded in significantly improving the production process of highly efficient PERC solar cells on the basis of plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), while at the same time potentiall reducing the costs.

"For the industrial plasma coating process, the thickness of the most important layer for the PERC cell could be successfully reduced to a quarter without lowering cell efficiency," said Coordinator Dr. Bernhard Cord of the company Singulus Technologies AG

For example, PERC solar cells with 4 nanometer (nm) thick aluminum oxide layers could be produced instead of the current 20 to 30 nm and an efficiency of 21.0 percent.

More information belwo (in German):

German funding project Simplex : LINK
News article (SolarServer) : LINK 

Cluster partners

SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG, Kahl am Main (coordinator)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme (ISE), Freiburg
Fraunhofer-Institut für Schicht- und Oberflächentechnik (IST), Braunschweig
Plasmetrex GmbH, Berlin
Plasus GmbH, Kissing
SENTECH Instruments GmbH, Berlin
TRUMPF Hüttinger GmbH + Co. KG, Freiburg  

NCD to supply Lucida GS Series ALD system to a big Chinese manufacturer, Tongwei Solar, for high efficiency crystalline solar cells

NCD has recently contracted with Chinese Tongwei Solar to supply solar cell manufacturing equipment that can produce cells of over 100MW. This equipment, Lucida GS Series ALD system, is used to process Al2O3-ALD passivation on the back side of wafers in high volume manufacturing of high efficiency crystalline solar cells.

Lucida™ GS series

The current achievement with Tongwei Solar that followed the contract from DMEGC in China means that the oversea customers have proved NCD’s technology and the excellence of the equipment once again.

Lucida GS Series as batch ALD deposition equipment can produce over 4,000 wafers (@ 6nm thickness) of 156mm X 156mm size per hour. In addition, it can operate even faster and more convenient once the system is combined with the automation that handles wafers automatically. When using our tools in solar cell production lines, the manufacturing cost will be lowered dramatically copmared to that of competitors owing to the high throughput, high yield, efficient gas consumption, and low maintenance cost of the NCD equipment.

Based on these advantages and excellence, Lucida GS Series will be the essential and international system which applies ALD process for manufacturing high efficiency solar cells in the future.

NCD’s rapid growth is expected this year because of this contract considers the green light for bulk orders. NCD does continuous efforts to be the world best and professional company leading advanced ALD technologies.

Atomic Layer Printing for silicon solar cell rear-passivation layers

Here is a new exciting technology from French start-up EnHelios NanoTech called Atomic Layer Printing. They are first targeting silicon solar cell rear-passivation layers, with caping and contact opening in on single wafer pass. The technology was presented at French annual ALD conference RAFALD in December last year.

Please take this survey to learn more and to get in touch with EnHelios NanoTech : SURVEY

Rear-passivated solar cells (PERC) is a widely adopted improvement for solar cells based on p-type solar wafers. However this improvement is expensive to implement as it requires two to three additional equipments for passivation layer deposition ; capping layer deposition and contact opening.

Atomic Layer Printing allows the direct deposition of patterned layers which means only one equipment to perform :

  - Passivation layer deposition (Typically AlOx)

  - Capping layer deposition (SiNx, SiOx, TiOx)

  - Contact opening (already open in printed layers)

Based on Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition, the technology offers the following benefits :

  - Atmospheric pressure process (no load-lock systems)

  - High throughput (up to 1 nm/s)

  - Low temperature (< 300 °C)

  - High material quality (no particle, no pinhole)

  - Low maintenance (no coating on the machine walls)

Atomic Layer Printers are modular equipments processing one wafer per printing head. R&D equipments have one printing head while production equipments combine multiple printing heads.

Beneq reports on record-breaking black silicon solar cells

Beneq reports that their equipment has been used in the creation of record-breaking black silicon solar cells, and we have over the years been involved in many projects developing high power solar cells. Lately, we have been working mostly with rear surface passivation of solar cells.

PERC solar cells are a type of high efficiency solar cells where the electron gain of the cell is improved with a passivating film on the rear side of the cell structure. The complete term is Passivated Emitter Rear Cell. The PERC manufacturing technology has become more mature and cost effective, and PERC cells are now causing a buzz in the industry.

In a recent article, 20.8% industrial PERC solar cell: ALD Al2O3 rear surface passivation, efficiency loss mechanisms analysis and roadmap to 24%, which was published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, the authors present a cost-efficient PERC roadmap at industrial level. In the paper, key processes of ozone based ALD Al2O3 rear surface passivation are presented, resulting in 20.8% PERC cells made with an industrial process. The equipment used in the study was Beneq’s P800 industrial ALD reactor. 

Full Story in Beneq Blog: LINK

Ultrathin protective ALD layer brings more stability to perovskite solar cell

TU Eindhoven reports: The addition of a few nanometers of a thin layer of aluminum oxide protects a perovskite solar cell against humidity – still a major stumbling block to the commercial application of this new type of solar cell. A surprising bonus is a yield boost of 3 percent. These are the findings of researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology and research institute ECN, part of the Solliance collective, published today in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.

Hoe, perovskiet? Jawel, zonnecellen van dit kristal zijn veelbelovend. En nu hebben ze weer een nadeel minder... https://t.co/eQiOdDvHlR

— TU Eindhoven (@TUeindhoven) December 6, 2016

Solar cells made from perovskite have undergone rapid development in recent years. Perovskite is a mineral that has the same crystal structure as calcium-titanium-oxide (CaTiO₃). The yield of this type of solar cell has risen to 22% in just a few years. A drawback for the moment, though, is the damaging effect of humidity: water vapor from the atmosphere reacts with the perovskite crystals causing a considerable reduction in the yield over time. This instability is a stumbling block to successful commercialization.

“Although Al₂O₃ has electrically insulating properties, it can still be used as a buffer layer between the semi-conductive perovskite and the conductive contacts by limiting the thickness of the layer to one nanometer or less,” says FOM PhD student and first author Dibyashree Koushik (TU/e group Plasma and Materials Processing). 

Full story at TU Eindhoven : LINK

High-Efficiency Humidity-Stable Planar Perovskite Solar Cells Based On Atomic Layer Architecture

D. Koushik, W.J.H. Verhees, Y. Kuang, S. Veenstra, D. Zhang, M.A. Verheijen, M. Creatore, and R.E.I. Schropp, Energy and Environmental Science (5 december 2016). The study was co-funded by the FOM Foundation

The ALD Passivation Market for Solar Cells is Evolving

Levitech Reports: Almere, the Netherlands – November 23, 2016 – The ongoing evolution from Al BSF cells to new PERC and n-type cell concepts will continue in the coming years. This production shift is made possible by the development of high volume capable Al2O3 deposition systems. The intrinsic properties of ALD are a perfect match with the requirements from cell design and technological point of view, both for PERC as well as n-type cells. Additionally, ALD systems result in a proven CoO benefit as compared to PECVD due to the increased maintenance interval and its beneficial effect on cell efficiencies.

从 Al BSF 电池到新型 PERC 和 n 型电池概念的持续演进将在未来的几年 中继续保 持下去。高產量 Al2O3 沉积系统 的发展推动了这一生产转变。从电池的设计 和 技 术 的 角 度 来 讲 ，无 论 是 PERC 还是 n 型电池，ALD 的固有属性可谓正应所需。除 此 之外，鉴于 ALD 系统可以增加维修间隔 并改善电池效率，它还能够带来 PECVD 不 具备的实际 CoO 益处。

 

Download (English)

Download (Chinese)

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory integrate water-splitting catalyst with a solar cell by PEALD

Meanwhile, a team of international researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have been very busy taking a major steps towards artificial photosystems employing PEALD processes performed at the Molecular Foundry at Berkeley Lab.

The CoO_x catalyst films were deposited in a Oxford Instruments FlexAL PEALD reactor using CoCp₂ (98% Strem Chemicals) and oxygen plasma was the oxidant.

Schematic of the multi-functional water splitting catalyst layer engineered using atomic layer deposition for integration with a high-efficiency silicon cell. (Credit: Ian Sharp/Berkeley Lab)

Read more here: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/11/09/water-splitting-catalyst-integrated-onto-semiconductor/

A multifunctional biphasic water splitting catalyst tailored for integration with high-performance semiconductor photoanodes [OPEN ACCESS]
Jinhui Yang, Jason K. Cooper, Francesca M. Toma,  Karl A. Walczak, Marco Favaro, Jeffrey W. Beeman, Lucas H. Hess,  Cheng Wang, Chenhui Zhu, Sheraz Gul, Junko Yano, Christian Kisielowski, Adam Schwartzberg & Ian D. Sharp

Nature Materials (2016) doi:10.1038/nmat4794

 

Artificial photosystems are advanced by the development of conformal catalytic materials that promote desired chemical transformations, while also maintaining stability and minimizing parasitic light absorption for integration on surfaces of semiconductor light absorbers. Here, we demonstrate that multifunctional, nanoscale catalysts that enable high-performance photoelectrochemical energy conversion can be engineered by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition. The collective properties of tailored Co3O4/Co(OH)2 thin films simultaneously provide high activity for water splitting, permit efficient interfacial charge transport from semiconductor substrates, and enhance durability of chemically sensitive interfaces. These films comprise compact and continuous nanocrystalline Co3O4 spinel that is impervious to phase transformation and impermeable to ions, thereby providing effective protection of the underlying substrate. Moreover, a secondary phase of structurally disordered and chemically labile Co(OH)2 is introduced to ensure a high concentration of catalytically active sites. Application of this coating to photovoltaic p+n-Si junctions yields best reported performance characteristics for crystalline Si photoanodes.

NCD supplied Lucida GS100 ALD to KIER

2016/11/02 : NCD has recently launched and supplied Lucida GS100 ALD, new version of Al2O3-ALD passivation equipment for high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cell, to KOREA INSTITUTE OF ENERGY RESEARCH (KIER).

This batch wafer process equipment has the specification below.

1) Batch capability: > 200 wafers/hour

2) Substrate size: 156 x 156mm2

3) Dimension: Approx. 450W x 617D x 1000H mm

KIER, which is not only the largest but also the most prestigious national institute of Korea about energy, is using Lucida GS 100 to investigate what is the best with dielectrics and passivation layers for crystal silicon solar cell. So we expect that this system will contribute very much to the development of solar energy research. NCD will do all we can, to be the best ALD equipment company with continuous R&D efforts. 

 

Lucida GS100 ALD for Al2O3 passivation of solar cells running at > 200 wafers/hour.

Cicada wing inspire antireflective structures for solar cells

Inspired by cicada wings, a team of researchers in China form Shanghai Jiao Tong University biomorphic have fabricated TiO2 with antireflective structures (ARSs) using and a simple and inexpensive sol-gel templating process.

A 17-year cicada, Magicicada, Robert Evans Snodgrass, 1930 (Wikipedia)

 

The technology could be used into maximise photon input in solar cells. The work was published in Applied Physics Letters as open access as below:

Angle dependent antireflection property of TiO2 inspired by cicada wings (OPEN ACESS)

Imran Zada, Wang Zhang, Yao Li, Peng Sun, Nianjin Cai, Jiajun Gu, Qinglei Liu, Huilan Su and Di Zhang

 

Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 153701 (2016); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4962903

 

Inspired by cicada wings, biomorphic TiO2 with antireflective structures (ARSs) was precisely fabricated using a simple, inexpensive, and highly effective sol-gel process combined with subsequent calcination. It was confirmed that the fabricated biomorphic TiO2 not only effectively inherited the ARS but also exhibited high-performance angle dependent antireflective properties ranging from normal to 45°. Reflectance spectra demonstrated that the reflectivity of the biomorphic TiO2 with ARSs gradually changed from 1.4% to 7.8% with the increasing incidence angle over a large visible wavelength range. This angle dependent antireflective property is attributed to an optimized gradient refractive index between air and TiO2 via ARSs on the surface. Such surfaces with ARSs may have potential application in solar cells.

Dutch SoLayTec book more orders for Spatial ALD PV PERC Systems

PV Magazine reports: Dutch company SoLayTec continues to book orders for its atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems.

The manufacturer, part of Arizona-based Amtech Systems, Inc., develops, delivers and services the machines for atomic layer deposition on solar cells worldwide. 

 

SoLayTec has booked 22 ALD system orders since its inception. (PV Magazine)

SoLayTec said Monday that it had received a follow-on order for three next generation solar ALD systems from an unnamed solar cell manufacturer in Asia and is expected to ship it in the next six months. The company, originally a spin-off firm of Dutch research organization TNO, launched in 2010. It has booked 22 ALD system orders since its inception, of which 15 are for mass production.

"This latest order is another indication of the growing recognition in the solar industry of the outstanding performance of SoLayTec's spatial ALD system to improve the cost of ownership of our customers' PERC cell processes,” said Fokko Pentinga, CEO and president of Amtech.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/solaytec-finds-buyers-for-ald-systems_100026445/#ixzz4Msh8KUjV

High-throughput Large-Area Spatial ALD by Beneq from Finland

Beneq announced their new fast Spatial ALD reactor in November last year (Beneq introduces the next revolution in industrial ALD). End of July Beneq released more information in the ALD2016 Ireland exhibition

Large-area sheet-to-sheet spatial ALD system (From Beneq Blog)

Beneq is a pioneer in ALD solutions that enable coating of large substrates, and we have also discussed them here in the blog. Beneq’s Mikko Söderlund was showcasing our innovations in this area to the ALD2016 audience.

Our large-area spatial ALD coating equipment has been developed for high-throughput coating applications such as Zn buffer for CIGS solar cells, OLED encapsulation, glass coating, and rear-surface passivation of crystalline solar cells. The new spatial ALD process makes it possible to coat bigger substrates faster and in a more flexible way. The capacity of the new large-area ALD coating equipment really opens doors to new possibilities in industrial-level coating. You can check the latest results of our large-sheet ALD tests from Mikko’s poster.

The large area spatial ALD reactor from Beneq (picture from Beneq)

The above deposition speeds result in massive area throughput figures. For rear-surface passivation (with a thin 5 nm Al2O3 coating) as a case example, processing wafers at substrate speeds exceeding 20 m/min would allow a single piece of equipment to produce over 30 000 wafers per hour. That is fast by any standard. (from Beneq Blog)

Download Mikko's ALD2016 poster to get all the details of the latest spatial ALD pilots with large substrates.

I met with Beneq at the ALD2016 Exhibition to discuss the new spatial ALD reactor (Picture Fotografie Katharina Knaut).

Signed the contract to supply ALD equipment to Chinese DMEGC for high efficiency solar cells

NCD has just contracted with Chinese DMEGC to supply solar cell manufacturing equipment which would produces over 100MW. This equipment is Lucida GS Series ALD system for mass-producing high efficiency crystalline solar cell using Al2O3-ALD passivation to reduce surface defects on the rear side of wafers. This is paramount achievement because it is export of mass production equipment to China of the Mecca of solar cell production through winning against big international competitors. The production capability of this equipment has been improved through our a lot of production experience comparing to the previous systems. It certainly shows that the customer has proved the technology of NCD and the excellence of the equipment, and NCD would make it the most memorable turning point for our future oversea sales.

Lucida™ GS Series ALD

High throughput atomic layer deposition system for surface passivation of c-Si solar cells

Lucida™ GS series

Lucida™ GS series + Automation

Applications

·         Al2O3 surface passivation of c-Silicon solar cells ·         Applications of mass-production ·         Industrial fully-automated production equipment ·         High throughput : up to 3400 wafers/hour of 156 x 156㎟

Features

·         Al2O3 thin films with good thickness uniformity ·         Advanced process kit and small volume chamber for short gas cycle times ·         Extremely materialize ALD mechanism ·         Small foot print ·         Totally integrated process module ·         Easy process control ·         Automatic cassette to cassette operation

Technical specifications

Model Material Wafer size (mm2) Thickness (nm) Throughput (wph) Lucida™ GS800 Al2O3 156x156 10 >1700 Lucida™ GS1200 Al2O3 156x156 10 >2400 Lucida™ GS1600 Al2O3 156x156 10 >3400

(www.ncdtech.co.kr)