cSI PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLUTIONS - Manz

cSI PHOTOVOLTAIC
SOLUTIONS
for crystalline silicon solar cell production

PHOTOVOLTAICS
PASSION FOR EFFICIENCY
Process machines and automation systems by Manz offer many advantages
for customers in the photovoltaic industry. They are characterized by maximum
efficiency and reliability. Maximum process quality and, at the same time,
low cost of ownership are evidence of the high level of development and welldesigned
system solutions.
The presence of the Manz group, with its own production facilities in Germany,
Slovakia, Taiwan and China, as well as worldwide service centers, guarantees short
response and delivery times. You too can share in the benefits.
CONTENT
PHOTOVOLTAIC cSI SOLUTIONS 4
AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS 8
METROLOGY SOLUTIONS 10
METALLIZATION SOLUTIONS 12
WET CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS 14
LASER PROCESS SOLUTIONS 16

PHOTOVOLTAIC
cSI SOLUTIONS
The conversion of sunlight into electrical energy is carried out in solar cells, the
core component of photovoltaic equipment. The process of manufacturing this
equipment includes a variety of steps – from extracting silicon to manufacturing
the modules. Within the value chain of manufacturing crystalline silicon solar cells,
Manz focuses on the third stage: the process of going from wafer to cell.
POWERING INNOVATION
Almost all of the world’s larger manufacturers use Manz systems for manufacturing
solar cells. Our core areas include: Automation, Test & Inspection, Metallization
Lines, Laser Processing Technology and Wet Chemistry.
When developing new processes, our focus is on the economical manufacture of
solar cells. Doing so means Manz has a hand in increasing efficiency and cutting
costs in the field of photovoltaics. In conjunction with high-performance imageprocessing
systems, precise and fast robotic systems allow for cycle times of under
one second with minimal breakage rates. With a throughput of 2,400 wafers per
hour, our integrated 60 MW back-end line is currently the fastest production line on
the market for metallization (screen printing), laser edge isolation, inspection, and
sorting of solar cells. Within this third stage of the value chain, Manz’s products
will cover approximately 90% of all investments made, including the new vacuum
coating systems of Manz Coating.
kEy FACTS
Year of Foundation
Headquarters
Core Competencies
Worldwide locations
1987
Reutlingen/Germany
Robotics, motion, metrology, control, process technology
Germany, China, Taiwan, USA, Spain, Slovakia, Hungary,
South Korea, India, Israel
01 02 03 04 05 06 A 07
08 09 10 11
CRYSTAllINE SIlICON SOlAR CEllS
PROCESS STAGES
FUllY INTEGRATED 60 MW CEll lINE
12
5
01. INlINE WAFER TESTER AND SORTER
02. AUTOMATION
03. TExTURING
04. AUTOMATION
05. DOPER
06. DIFFUSION
A. OPTION: SElECTIVE EMITTER lASER PROCESS
07. AUTOMATION AND INlINE BOx BUFFER
08. PhOSPhOR GlASS REMOVAl
09. AUTOMATION
10. ANTI-REFlEx COATING (FROM Q3/2011)
11. AUTOMATION AND INlINE BOx BUFFER
12. AUTOMATION
13. METAllIZATION
13 +14 15 16 17 18
14. FRONT/REAR SIDE PRINT INSPECTION
15. DRYING FURNACE
16. DRYING AND FIRING FURNACE
17. INlINE lASER EDGE ISOlATION
18. INlINE CEll TESTER AND SORTER
MANZ PRODUCTS
ExTERNAl SUPPlIER

AUTOMATION
SOLUTIONS
Manz offers economical inline automation systems for the manufacture of
crystalline solar cells: These systems range from those that load and unload
processing machines to complete automation solutions with integrated buffer
systems and the ability to connect them to central manufacturing computer
systems. Precise and fast robotic systems connected with high-performance imageprocessing
systems ensure that breakage rates remain low while machine availability
remains high.
With cycle times of less than a second, equipment with a total yearly output of up to
100 MW can be manufactured using only one production line.
Manz’s standard systems include:
Loading and unloading of cleaning and texturing equipment
Loading and unloading of diffusion equipment
Loading and unloading of PSG etching equipment
Loading and unloading of anti-reflective coating equipment
(the SiNA ® series, for example)
Inline box buffer systems with a capacity of up to 8,000 cells
SpeedPicker SpeedPicker with Bernoulli Gripper
LOADING AND UNLOADING OF PROCESS TOOLS
Your advantages:
Excellent uptime and lowest breakage rates
Wafer feed in Manz stack box or cassettes or inline interlinked
Integrated vision system for breakage detection and precise positioning of wafers
All inline integration from loading texturing until SiN unloading
Fully automated buffers up to 2 hour production
Standardized mechanical and electrical interfaces
Integrated control cabinet − fast installation and start up
All important measurement systems can be integrated
Standardized stack boxes and cassettes
Small footprint
SPEEDPICKER
The SpeedPicker is a new automation system which was specially developed for
the requirements of the solar market. Compared to other systems in the market,
the system is the most powerful in terms of:
Space: 50 % reduction
After sales costs: 50 % reduction
Investment: 50 % reduction
Safe wafer handling with lowest breakage rates of 0.05%
0.5% lower breakage rate than competitive products
9
Excellent uptime
Lowest breakage rates
50 % less space and costs
Lowest breakage rates

METROLOGY
SOLUTIONS
Testing and measuring wafers and cells during manufacturing is an important means
of controlling the quality of manufactured cells. Even the tiniest mechanical defects
in the cells – such as micro-cracks, for example – can have a negative impact on the
efficiency of the entire module or render it completely unusable.
For the purposes of quality control, Manz manufactures complete wafer testing
systems, which are used by wafer manufacturers for their end-of-line inspection and
by cell manufacturers for their receiving inspections.
After further production steps, the cell testing and sorting modules in the backend
area of the plant measure the various levels of quality and sort each cell into
the designated module class. The cell testers are suitable for both end-of-line
inspections after manufacturing cells as well as for carrying out receiving
inspections when manufacturing modules.
All measurement systems are highly integrated into the testing machines and
therewith allow a maximum performance with respect to throughput and crossinformation
usage. The availability of I/V analysis, hot spot detection and electroluminescence
analysis integrated within one testing system will allow cell loss
analysis and automatically indicate process related issues.
Cell Tester Cell Sorter
All systems are equipped with Manz automation systems and guarantee the lowestpossible
breakage rates as well as a high level of tool availability and throughput.
Manz’s quality-control and metrology systems also test the quality of wafers and
cells in all important process steps within the production line, thereby increasing the
productivity of the systems and assuring the quality of the products.
INLINE WAFER TESTER / IWT 3600
Modular design:
Available as stand-alone system or integrated into frontend
Available inspection systems:
Geometry and chips
Micro crack inspection
Saw mark measurement
Bow measurement
Inspection contamination
Conductivity measurement
INLINE CELL TESTER / ICT 2400
Thickness measurement
TTV measurement
(Total Thickness Variation)
Charge carrier lifetime
measurement
Doping (p or n type)
Modular design:
Available as inline tester within Manz backend system or as stand-alone system
Your advantages:
Minimal breakage, high throughput
Cell transport to the test modules by
vacuum conveyor belt
Vision systems for precise positioning
and chip detection
High performance I-V curve
measurement with Xenon flash (h.a.l.m.)
Available inspection systems:
Electroluminescence inspection
Front side inspection
Rear side inspection
Color inspection
Hot Spot measurement
High-performance software for
linking the results of all test stations
(classification scheme)
Optional: Laser edge isolation
11
Increases cell efficiency
by precise testing and sorting
Loading from Manz stack box
Sorting module with 12 bins
High throughput of 3,600 wafer/h
Highly efficient
electroluminescence inspection
NEW: Identifies ‚Hot Spots‘
on solar cells and
increases the efficiency
of solar modules!

METALLIZATION
SOLUTIONS
Metallization – printing a conductive layer onto cells – is an important process in the
manufacture of crystalline solar cells.
In this area, Manz offers both high-output printing systems as individual modules,
as well as a complete back-end line with a throughput of 2,400 cells per hour in a
single production line.
Manz also has the right solutions for new, advanced processes (selective emit-
ters, for example). The HAP (High Accuracy Printing) 2400 system is required for
double printing or printing on selective emitter structures. The system recognizes
pre-processed patterns such as a print or a selective emitter structure and prints
aligned auto-matically on this structure with a precision of +/- 10 µm.
The Manz Aerosol Printer uses an aerosol deposition procedure that allows me-
tallic front contacts to be applied without ever coming into contact with the cell.
Eliminating the use of the printing screen has additional benefits: besides cut-
ting costs (manufacturing, cleaning, and preproduction costs), it is a contact-free
procedure, which leads to a significant reduction in breakage rates.
High Accuracy Printer (HAP) 2400 High Accuracy Printer (HAP) 1200
INLINE SCREEN PRINTING SYSTEM
High throughput: up to 2,400 cells/h
Loading module with integrated micro-crack inspection
High-accuracy cell placement on printing conveyor
Parallel cell screen printing system for enlarged process window and
fastest cycle time
Easy maintenance on screen printing parts (quick change system for
screen and squeegee)
Excellent accessibility of screen printing parts
Very safe wafer handling – lowest breakage rate
Vision system for print control and closed loop feedback function
Fully integrated horizontal drying furnace
Statistical process data collection for continuous production optimization
MES interface (optional)
HIGH ACCURACY PRINTING / HAP 2400
Your advantages of the high accuray printing process:
Single cell high accuracy screen printing system
High throughput: up to 2,400 cells/h
High precision vision system for wafer alignment
High precision vision system for recognition of pre-processed
structures on wafer
AEROSOL PRINTING
Advanced printing process for front-side metallization of solar cells
High throughput: up to 2,400 cells/h
Direct writing process: no screen cost
Non-contact printing: no breakage, possibility to handle thinner wafers
Less shadowing: increased cell efficiency up to 0.5%
High throughput up to 2,400 wafers/h
Less material consumption
13
Parallel screen printing
for fastest cycle time
Very safe wafer handling
Highest accuracy in
screen printing process
No contact printing: no breakage,
handling of thinner wafers possible

WET CHEMICAL
SOLUTIONS
Manz offers newly developed wet chemical solutions for manufacturing crystal-
line solar cells. This includes the manufacturing stages of cleaning, saw damage
removal, texturing, phosphosilicate glass removal, and one-sided etching processes.
In this context, Manz uses experience and expertise from Manz Taiwan, which
has been focused on the manufacture of wet chemical equipment for over 20
years. Manz Taiwan is the market leader in the field of wet chemical equipment
for the manufacture of printed circuit boards and flat panel displays and – having
installed more than 2,000 pieces of equipment – is the market leader in the electronics
and FPD industries.
Wet chemical equipment from Manz is characterized by the following innovative
features: Minimal breakage through the use of sponge rollers, completely closed
system, drive mechanism using magnetic clutches for the highest level of safety,
easy to operate using the Manz touch screen, highly integrated Manz automation
solutions, extremely low manufacturing costs (CoO), extremely economical use of
chemicals and water.
PSG Etching Sponge Roller
IPSG 3000
Inline Phosphorous Glass Removal System
High throughput of 3,000 wafer/h for an 8 lane configuration based on
156 x 156 mm wafers
Minimum breakage rate due to the application of soft sponge rollers
concept with minimized mechanical stress on substrates
Sponge rollers are geared by a mechanical coupling system, which allows
wear free transport and keeps drive system out of process chamber
Minimized chemical consumption due to optimized tank design
High process flexibility
SW controlled switch - over between spray and immersion process with
individual shiftable spray function
Two step cascade rinse with standby function to reduce water consumption
Combined roll off/air knife dryer with standby function for reduced CDA
consumption
Easy to operate via GUI with touch screen
Compatible with highly integrated automation systems from Manz
Process developed with Fraunhofer ISE
15
High throughput of 3,000 wafer/h
Lowest breakage due to
effective sponge roller concept
Optimized tank system –
for less chemical consumption

LASER PROCESS
SOLUTIONS
Manz is working intensively on new methods to increase both the efficiency of solar
cells and throughput rates, while at the same time cutting solar cell manufacturing
costs. To do so, Manz uses high-efficiency laser processes to achieve this goal.
To generate a selective emitter, Manz uses a laser-based procedure developed by
the ipe (University of Stuttgart, Institute for Physical Electronics). With this technology,
using an additional laser-processing step, the level of doping under the contact
structure, which is applied in a later stage of the process, is increased significantly.
In conjunction with Manz’s HAP (high accuracy printer), an increase in the solar cell’s
efficiency of up to 0.5% can be achieved. During the development of these systems,
Manz ensured that existing cell production lines can be upgraded.
Manz’s laser systems are applied for many other Manz high accuracy processes
such as: Laser edge isolation, dielectric layer opening or laser drilling to generate
back-contact cells such as MWT and EWT.
Laser Edge Isolation Selective Emitter
LASER EDGE ISOLATION
Edge isolation by laser grooving
High throughput of up to 2,400 wafer/h
Safe wafer handling and lowest breakage rates
Loading/Unloading from/into Manz Box/Cassette or alternative carrier
Modular design – available as inline or stand-alone system
Combination of high performance laser process with high precision machine
allows a minimum “dead area” (≤ 100 µm)
SELECTIVE EMITTER
High throughput of up to 2,400 wafer/h
Safe wafer handling – lowest breakage rates
Increase of cell efficiency up to 0.5% in combination with high ohmic emitter
and Manz HAP (high accuracy printing)
Loading/Unloading from/into Manz Box/Cassette or alternative carrier
Modular design – available as inline or stand-alone system
17
Minimum dead area
of ≤ 100 µm
Lowest breakage rates
Increase cell efficiency up to 0.5%

Manz Automation AG
Steigaeckerstr. 5
72768 Reutlingen
Germany
Phone +49 7121 9000 0
Fax +49 7121 9000 99
info@manz.com
www.manz.com