Crystalline silicon solar cell production equipment

What are crystalline silicon solar cells?

Crystalline silicon PV cells are the most popular solar cells on the market and also provide the highest energy conversion efficiencies of all commercial solar cells and modules. The structure of typical commercial crystalline-silicon PV cells is shown in Figure 1.

How can crystalline silicon solar cells be produced?

Production technologies such as silver-paste screen printing and firing for contact formation are therefore needed to lower the cost and increase the volume of production for crystalline silicon solar cells.

What is a crystalline silicon PV cell?

The crystalline silicon PV cell is one of many silicon-based semiconductor devices. The PV cell is essentially a diode with a semiconductor structure (Figure 1), and in the early years of solar cell production, many technologies for crystalline silicon cells were proposed on the basis of silicon semiconductor devices.

What are the efficiencies of crystalline silicon solar cells?

The efficiencies of typical commercial crystalline silicon solar cells with standard cell structures are in the range of 16–18% for monocrystalline substrates and 15–17% for polycrystalline substrates. The substrate thickness used in most standard crystalline cells is 160–240 μm.

What equipment is used to make solar cells?

Silicon Ingot and Wafer Manufacturing Tools: These transform raw silicon into crystalline ingots and then slice them into thin wafers, forming the substrate of the solar cells. Doping Equipment: This equipment introduces specific impurities into the silicon wafers to create the p-n junctions, essential for generating an electric field.

What industries are related to crystalline silicon solar cell and module production?

There are generally three industries related to crystalline silicon solar cell and module production: metallurgical and chemical plants for raw material silicon production, monocrystalline and polycrystalline ingot fabrication and wafer fabrication by multi-wire saw, and solar cell and module production.