Sono-Tek Coporation, Milton, NY, USA, plans to exhibit ultrasonic coating technology for spraying CIGs solutions and CdTe layer chemistries in thin film solar cell manufacturing at the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) September 5-8, in Hall A4/B27b, in Hamburg, Germany.
As ultrasonic wet process spray gains popularity for use in thin film solar manufacturing, Sono-Tek remains at the forefront of companies offering these cost effective spray solutions. In particular, Sono-Tek has developed the ExactaCoat spray system for R&D applications, and the WideTrack system for pilot line and full production scale applications, both of which provide uniform thin film coatings of suspensions used in thin film solar manufacturing, and are easily integrated with existing lines.
Capital equipment costs for manufacturers using wet process ultrasonic spray technology are a fraction ofCVDand other vacuum deposition process equipment costs, making investment into new lines more feasible for emerging companies.
Further manufacturing cost savings achieved with ultrasonic spray include: seamless integration with inline high volume production lines versus slow batch processing, and high effective material transfer of very expensive rare elements used in CIGS and CdTe suspensions (up to 95%). The targeted, low velocity ultrasonic spray produces very little overspray. Independent control of process parameters such as drop size, flow rate, and deposition contributes to the highest possible uniformity with the flexibility to optimize morphology characteristics.
Sono-Tek’s patented ultrasonic nozzles, the core of all of the company’s coating equipment, are non-clogging precision atomizing devices, whose high frequency vibrations break up any agglomerations in solution throughout the entire coating process. This is particularly valuable when depositing cadmium-based suspensions where agglomerations can result in non-uniform distribution of particles and lower cell efficiency. Ultrasonic atomization creates a very stable process with highly repeatable thin films, and uniformities as low as +/-2%.
Sono-Tek ultrasonic spray systems are proven and currently in use at some of the largest solar cell manufacturers in the world. For more information on Sono-Tek’s ultrasonic coating systems for thin film solar manufacturing, visit https://www.sono-tek.com/energy/page/r&d_thin_filmor email info@sono-tek.com.