Rudolph Technologies Inc., has introduced Discover Solar, one of the first fab management software tools designed specifically to help solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers increase cell efficiency and reduce costs.

“Based on our success with Discover analysis and data management software for the semiconductor industry, Discover Solar incorporates a completely re-engineered database structure and analysis engine optimized for the unique requirements of high-volume photovoltaic production,” said Mike Plisinski, vice president and general manager of the Rudolph's Data Analysis and Review Business Unit.

Discover Solar accepts all available data from each step in the solar manufacturing process. Statistical process control with automated reporting gets critical information to the right people fast. Discover Solar is available now for purchase.

“It provides comprehensive analysis of process performance information, allowing manufacturers to discover and act upon opportunities to improve the energy conversion efficiency of their products. Using Discover Solar, PV process engineers can monitor the health of a complete production line and quickly identify tool and sub-component problems as well as incoming material issues that could impact the line. If even possible, this kind of analysis would take hours to perform without Discover Solar,” Plisinski said.