SCHOTT Solar's Quasimono combines mono and polycrystalline photovoltaics wafer manufacturing techniques to generate solar cell efficiency of 19.9%, confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE.

November 28, 2011 -- SCHOTT Solar's Quasimono combines mono and polycrystalline photovoltaics wafer manufacturing techniques to generate solar cell efficiency of 19.9%, confirmed by Fraunhofer ISE.

The Czochralski method is usually used to produce monocrystalline wafers. The full-square high-performance wafers contain a high monocrystalline share manufactured in a more cost-effective method than standard processes, SCHOTT Solar reports. The modified Vertical Gradient Freeze (VGF) process is traditionally used to manufacture polycrystalline wafers. Here, it produces high-quality, quasi-monocrystalline wafers.

Also read: 20.2% silicon solar cell efficiency at Schott Solar

The seed crystal is partly melted on the bottom of the silicon crucible. Quasi-monocrystalline growth then takes place by VGF technique. This required a new process engineering technique and new furnace technology. The company?s development team is now working on refining this technique even further.

SCHOTT Solar plans to introduce the SCHOTT PERFORM MONO solar module in 2012.

The company has now managed to successfully transfer its high-performance concept, which SCHOTT Solar had developed while collaborating very successfully with Roth & Rau AG (backside passivation) and Schmid Group (front side selective emitters), over to less expensive Quasimono wafers. This research work was partially supported by funds from the German government as part of the "QUASIMONO" research project (grant no. FKZ 0325061).

Learn more about SCHOTT AG at www.schottsolar.com.

Subscribe to Photovoltaics World

Follow Photovoltaics World on Twitter.com via editors Pete Singer, twitter.com/PetesTweetsPW and Debra Vogler, twitter.com/dvogler_PV_semi.

Or join our Facebook group