Heraeus Photovoltaics, the global supplier of metallization solutions to the PV industry, made the debut of its PERC silver front-side paste, the Heraeus SOL9641A series, for the Taiwanese market at the PV Taiwan 2016 tradeshow. Taiwan is one of the world’s largest PERC cell manufacturing bases.
The new Heraeus SOL9641A series front-side silver paste was firstly introduced to the PV industry at SNEC 2016 exhibition in Shanghai, China in this May. This paste solution is capable of raising the conversion efficiency of solar cells by 0.1%. SOL9641A’s adhesion allows customers to optimize their busbar design for better electrical performance and cost reduction. Its ultra-fine line screen printing capabilities make the 9641A perfectly suitable for the latest screen technology with narrower finger opening, high mesh and thinner wire as well as for knot-free screens. The SOL9641A is helpful to enhance printability in high-through- put mass production with improved finger geometry. Such benefits have been testified by customers with better efficiency and higher production yield.
SOL9641A silver paste is not only compatible for both multi-si and mono-si PERC cells, but also for black-silicon texture. Furthermore, the paste solution has a wider processing window of 50°C with an optimal firing window toward lower temperature range, which improve overall performance for PERC cells utilizing it.
Weiming Zhang, Chief Technology Officer of Heraeus Photovoltaics, noted the newest silver paste innovation is a testament to the company’s global R&D network. He said, “With photovoltaics scientists and engineers working with customers across Taiwan, China, Singapore and the United States, our research and development is literally a 24-hour a day effort. That type of continuous and non-stop collaboration from our global team is one of the main reasons we can get new innovations like the SOL9641A series to market so quickly.”
Heraeus believes that renewable energy production costs have the potential to drop as much as 50% every five years, which will help accelerate adoption of solar and other environmentally-friendly energy sources. Heraeus’ devotion to R&D segment strengthens its position to stand at the edge of the PV industry.
Andreas Liebheit, the President Heraeus Photovoltaics, expressed his continued belief that Taiwan remains a critical market force for solar energy development and will play an important role when the market comes back into an upswing mode. “The PV markets across the Taiwan straits are strongly interlinked across the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan companies have established R&D and production sites in mainland China, so it makes strong strategic sense for Heraeus to have a strong presence in both regions. It allows us to simultaneously work with cell and module manufacturers in both markets to help them deliver even higher-performing cell technologies.”