cSi PRODUCTION SOLUTIONS

cSi PRODUCTION SOLUTIONSFOR CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS

PASSIONFOR EFFICIENCYProcess 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.

Manz AG, based at Reutlingen/Germany, is a globally leading hightech mechanical engineering company. The company, which was founded in 1987, has developed over recent years from an automation specialist into a provider of integrated production lines for the photovoltaic industry (crystalline and thin-film), and for the manufacturing of flat screens. The development and manufacturing of production systems for lithium-ion batteries comprises a new business area. The Group of companies, which is managed by founder Dieter Manz, and which has been listed on the Germany stock market since 2006, currently manufactures in Germany, China, Taiwan, Slovakia and Hungary.

There are also distribution and service branches in the USA, South Korea and India. The company employed around 1,900 staff as of the end of the second quarter 2011, 900 of whom are located in Asia. Revenue in the past financial year amounted to more than EUR 180 million. With their new “passion for efficiency” claim, Manz express their service commitment to provide ever more efficient production systems to their customers that operate in important sectors of the future.

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PHOTOVOLTAICSCONTENT

photovoltaic csi solutions 6

AUToMATIon SolUTIonS 10

METRoloGy SolUTIonS 12

METAllIzATIon SolUTIonS 14

lASER PRoCESS SolUTIonS 16

PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLUTIONS

wE wORk mETICULOUSLY ON EVEN THE SmALLEST OF DETAILS. bECAUSE TO US, PRECISION AND DILIgENCE AREN’T jUST wORDS. mANZ – PASSION FOR EFFICIENCY

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PHOTOVOLTAIC 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.

Almost all of the world’s larger manufacturers use Manz systems for manufacturing solar cells. our core areas include: Automation, Test & Inspection, Metallization lines and laser Processing Technology. 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 image-processing 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.

Our core areas include: Automation, Test & Inspection, Metallization Lines and Laser Processing Technology.

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Crystalline siliCOn sOlar Cells PrOCess stages FUlly integrateD 60 MW Cell line

01. inline WaFer tester anD sOrter02. aUtOMatiOn03. textUring04. aUtOMatiOn05. DOPer06. DiFFUsiOna. OPtiOn: seleCtive eMitter laser PrOCess

07. aUtOMatiOn anD inline BOx BUFFer08. PhOsPhOr glass reMOval09. aUtOMatiOn10. anti-reFlex COating 11. aUtOMatiOn anD inline BOx BUFFer12. aUtOMatiOn13. MetallizatiOn

14. FrOnt/rear siDe Print insPeCtiOn15. Drying FUrnaCe16. Drying anD Firing FUrnaCe17. inline laser eDge isOlatiOn18. inline Cell tester anD sOrter

Manz PrODUCts external sUPPlier

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AUTOmATION SOLUTIONS

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

Excellent uptime, lowest breakage rates

50 % less space and costs

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 image-processing 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

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mETROLOgY SOLUTIONS

Cell Tester – Front Side Inspection Cell Tester – Front and Rear Side Inspection

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 back-end 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 cross- information usage. The availability of I/V analysis, hot spot detection and electro-luminescence analysis integrated within one testing system will allow cell loss analysis and automatically indicate process related issues.

All systems are equipped with Manz automation systems and guarantee the lowest-possible breakage rates as well as a high level of tool availability and through- put. 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 3000

Modular design:Available as stand-alone system or integrated into frontend available inspection systems:• Geometry and chips • Thickness measurement• Micro crack inspection • TTV measurement• Saw mark measurement (Total Thickness Variation)• Bow measurement • Charge carrier lifetime• Inspection contamination measurement• Conductivity measurement • Doping (p or n type)

inlinE cEll tEstER / ict 2400

Modular design:Available as inline tester within Manz backend system or as stand-alone system

Your advantages: available inspection systems: • Minimal breakage, high throughput • Electroluminescence inspection• Cell transport to the test modules • Front side inspection by vacuum conveyor belt • Rear side inspection• Vision systems for precise • Color inspection positioning chip detection • Hot Spot measurement • High performance I-V curve measurement with Xenon flash High-performance software for (h.a.l.m.) linking the results of all test stations (classification scheme) optional: laser edge isolation

Increases cell efficiency by precise testing and sorting

Highly efficient electroluminescence inspection

Sorting module with 12 bins

High throughput of 3,000 wafer/h

Identifies ‚Hot Spots‘ on solar cells and increases the efficiency of solar modules

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mETALLIZATION SOLUTIONS

High Accuracy Printer (HAP) 2400 High Accuracy Printer (HAP) loading

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 emitters, 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 automatically on this structure with a precision of +/– 10 µm.

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

Parallel screen printing for fastest cycle time

Highest accuracy in screen printing process

High efficiency due to homogenous loading of firing furnace

Very safe wafer handling

High accuracy – high throughput

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LASER PROCESS SOLUTIONS

laser Edge Isolation Selective Emitter

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

• 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

Increase cell efficiency up to 0.5%

Minimum dead area of ≤ 100 µm

Increase cell efficiency by up to 0.5%

manz Ag Steigaeckerstr. 5 72768 Reutlingen germany

Phone +49 7121 9000 0 Fax +49 7121 9000 99

www.manz.com info@manz.com