Photovoltaics International
Incoming quality control is essential for the material yield of mono-crystalline Si PV wafers as demonstrated by this study performed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.
In the News
The Picture of Quality
January 2012
Photon
The annual survey on luminescence imaging reveals that BT Imaging has the edge on inspecting cast mono wafers.
Cast-Mono Wafers Revisited
September 2011
Solar Industry Magazine
Cast mono is still a relatively new technology, so until it becomes more widely used, wafering companies are concentrating on the usual factors–keeping costs low, reducing waste and speeding up the inspection process to keep up with production.
Read more
Maturing Solar Industry Incorporating New Tools and New Quality Measures.
June 2011
Eric Wesoff, Greentech Media, June 1, 2011
BT Imaging Improves PV Quality with Photoluminescence Imaging
“I spoke with Wayne McMillan, the VP of Sales and Marketing. He spoke of the improvements that BTi enables in efficiency and yield from silicon blocks all the the way to the module level. McMillan claims that their tools are much faster and provide much better resolution than existing solutions. The firm will soon be introducing tools that can inspect 3,600 wafers per hour.”
Electrical Wafer Quality and Correlation to Cell Efficiency
December 2010
Future PV: December 2010
While physical metrics are important, they do not qualify a wafer in terms of the ultimately important metric–solar cell efficiency entitlement. Determining spatially resolved lifetime features is an imperative as a good predictor of the impact of wafer quality on cell efficiency.
Download article (Electrical Wafer Quality and Correction to Efficiency_FPV2010
Our co-founder Dr Thorsten Trupke wins 2010 UNSW Inventor of the Year award
September 2010
Thorsten Trupke has won the 2010 UNSW Inventor of the Year Award for his contributions in field of photoluminescence testing.
Thorsten Trupke is a co-inventor of solar cell and wafer inspection systems that help to improve the quality and competitiveness of the photovoltaic industry globally.
He and his UNSW colleague, Robert Bardos, established BT Imaging (BTI) three years ago as a UNSW spin-off to commercialise several photoluminescence (PL) imaging technologies with applications across the PV manufacturing supply chain.
Follow the link below for further information:
http://www.pv.unsw.edu.au/
http://www.unswinventorawards.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=26
BT Imaging Founders win prestigious laser research and development award
July 2010
BT Imaging CTO Thorsten Trupke and VP of R&D Robert Bardos win the Berthold Leibinger Innovationspreis for their work on Laser Based Luminescence Imaging of Silicon Bricks, Wafers and Solar Cells.
Click here to view the details of the award and winners
Click here to view the press release for the award.
Australian Solar Institute Invests $2.25 Million AUD in BT Imaging
May 2010
The Australian Solar Institute (ASI) has announced funding for five solar research and development projects of $18.45 million, of which BT Imaging is a recipient.
ASI Executive Director Mark Twidell said, “We are delighted to support these projects, which bring collaborative partnerships between industry and research to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of solar energy.”
BT Imaging Pty Ltd : Inline Inspection Tools for Photovoltaic Manufacturing.
$2.25m funding to support a $5.43m applied research project in collaboration with Q-Cells, REC Wafer, ANU & CSIRO.
The project looks to develop an inspection tool to find micro-cracks in silicon wafers and cells during their manufacture and an inspection tool that delivers process and quality control, and sorting of multi-crystalline and mono-crystalline silicon blocks.
See the full article at: http://www.australiansolarinstitute.com.au/news.htm
Blind faith: BT Imaging hopes to bring solar-wafer inspection and sorting into the light
May 2010
Tom Cheyney, published at Chip Shots, PV-Tech
Solar cell manufacturers have been buying wafers on blind faith, knowing precisely what they are getting in terms of the silicon substrates’ physical specifications but staying in the dark when it comes to their electrical quality. It’s not for lack of desire: “what you can’t see is what you get” is not a game the cellies and waferers want to play forever. They’re keenly aware of the issue of variable wafer quality… Read more.
Influence of Wafer Quality on Cell Performance
February 2010
Photovoltaics International, 7th Edition, 2010
Influence of Wafer Quality on Cell Performance
L. Carnel, J. Nyhus & K. Helland, REC Wafer AS, Porsgrunn, Norway
An improved understanding of multicrystalline wafer quality can explain variations in cell performance across multicrystalline silicon blocks. Infrared scanning can detect precipitates in a silicon block, while photoluminescence, combined with defect etching can reveal needle-like precipitates along the grain boundaries. Such precipitates typically lead to reduced shunt resistance. Crystallographic defects that lower the current collection and the final cell efficiency can also be identified. Understanding the influence of these defects is important for the development of a crystallization technology that results in a substantially better cell efficiency. The use of the improved material quality in an innovative cell and module technology have led to the world record module efficiency of 17%. This paper will illustrate one example of how an improved understanding of multicrystalline wafer quality can explain the variations in cell performance.
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