Optomec, a provider of additive manufacturing systems, says Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) has selected its Aerosol Jet Solar Lab system to be part of IKTS' energy systems department.
The Aerosol Jet system, which will be installed at the IKTS facility in Dresden, Germany, will be primarily used to develop front-side collector line printing solutions to increase solar cell efficiencies. IKTS conducts development work within the framework of R&D projects with its industrial customers spanning the entire value chain, extending through to prototype production.
The Aerosol Jet technology enables fine feature, non-contact printing of advanced photovoltaic materials onto non-planar surfaces without the need for masks or resists. According to Optomec, because of the non-contact nature of Aerosol Jet technology, the system can print on thinner silicon wafers, providing a higher manufacturing yield compared to wafer breakage caused by contact screen printing.
SOURCE: Optomec
