Applied Materials Inc. has unveiled the new Applied Baccini Pegaso solar photovoltaic cell manufacturing platform. The Pegaso platform fabricates electrical circuits on both sides of a solar cell – a process that includes multiple screen-printed metallization steps, metrology and sorting.
The system delivers high yield and cell output – over 20 million solar cells per year – at a lower overall cost-per-watt than other cell-manufacturing systems, according to Applied Materials.
The Pegaso platform features proprietary ‘smart’ technologies that are designed to bring more precision and control to the cell manufacturing process. The system's adaptive wafer-handling mechanism, based on planar motor technology, shuttles wafers between two independent tracks to optimize wafer output and enable continued operation during maintenance, Applied Materials explains.
The Pegaso-XPTM dual print head incorporates a closed-loop metrology system that adjusts printing parameters on the fly from wafer to wafer to achieve near micron-level accuracy and repeatability for fully optimized cell performance, the company adds.
