SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silicon Genesis, a leader in process and technology for engineered substrates announced today that it has started production of the first ever kerf-free 150um solar-cell substrates at its new solar development and pilot production facility. Located in San Jose, California, the facility includes over 50,000 square feet of specially designed space to house the company’s PolyMax pilot and prototype high-volume manufacturing equipment.
SiGen’s pilot line started producing 150um thick, full size 125mm wafers and will soon be manufacturing 156mm wafers. The expanded pilot line will be used to produce substrate samples and further develop the PolyMax high-volume manufacturing equipment to efficiently convert silicon ingots into thin silicon wafers ranging from 150um to 50um in thickness.
The move to a larger facility will enable the company to better ramp up production of innovative PolyMax thin-PV substrates. The new facility represents SiGen’s continuous efforts to bring the pilot line to sample production by spring 2009.
The production of 150um thick wafers will allow immediate adoption by PV cell manufacturers using existing processes and automation. The kerf-free nature of the PolyMax system will allow a first-order cost savings in cell manufacturing and halve the silicon feedstock material required to manufacture the same amount of MW capacity per year.
“The manufacturing of 150um wafers in the new pilot line facility with higher production capacity represents a significant milestone in our growth strategy. The introduction of non-sawed wafers is a major cost reduction throughout the entire PV value chain. We predict that this method will be so effective in reducing the cost of high-efficiency monocrystalline PV that it will reverse thin-film technology adoption,” said Francois Henley, President/CEO.
The company had been producing 50um thick wafers at a different site for process development and sample characterization work. The PolyMax system concept and 50um substrate results were presented at the recently held 23rd European Photovoltaic Conference in Valencia, Spain.
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