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INSPECTION
37
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The results of the research were striking. What was This sort of wastage would appear to be a very
most telling was the confimation that, in general, expensive money pit for manufacturers. The results
the majority of breakages in cell and wafer in this study did not include losses due to quality
manufacturing was caused by cracks already problems caused by cracks that showed up at a
Issue III 2009
present on incoming wafers or cells. A simple pro- later stage such as claims on reduction of module
active approach of rejecting damaged wafers and capacity. The focus here is on what manufacturers
cells as they are discovered saw the breakage can do to improve their current situations.
rates in production decrease by 21% and up to an
extraordinary 88% reduction in breakages. Although tuning of process equipment can and will
improve yield in general, the real need currently for
This difference in the figures depends on the type process improvement should be on incoming and
of manufacturing, the level of manipulation to the outgoing inspection of wafers and cells. Investing
silicon during production and the thickness of the in process improvement at this moment in time is
wafers being used. The results of the study limited due to the current financial situation that the
showed that any other breakage that occurred was world continues to face.
caused by the process equipment during the
manufacturing process. However, the financial reasons for such resource
investment is fairly obvious. Nipping the cracks in
The results of the study suggests that a great deal the bud will save money down the line. The
of cash is being wasted in photovoltaic factories process improvement research discussed here
every day. Money is invested into wafers and cells was done with ultrasonic analysis based on the
that will not make it to the end of the production frequency response curve of the crystalline
line. For example in a cell manufacturing line with a material. This is a more reliable method than
capacity of 1.800 cells/hr, this leads to a loss of optical inspection and is a non invasive process
500k up to more than 2 million euros each year. that will ensure you have no cracks in your silicon.
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