Solar energy is an inexhaustible, inexhaustible clean energy. The development and utilization of photovoltaic industry, directly benefit from the innovation and development of laser technology. The following is a brief inventory of the laser industry in the field of photovoltaic applications, as well as the layout of the photovoltaic field of pioneering laser companies.
Photovoltaic cell manufacturing - laser cutting & etching
Photovoltaic cell photoelectric conversion efficiency is the key to its quality. In order to improve the quality of photovoltaic cells, it is necessary to make a precise and complex design on the surface of silicon wafers, micron-level cutting and etching.
Laser cutting can accurately realize the cutting needs of silicon wafers for photovoltaic cells, while laser etching technology can realize high-efficiency, low-loss micro-etching. Silicon wafers are hard, chemically stable, and virtually non-extensible. Whether it's chemical etching or wheel scribing, it's a half-hearted effort, and laser precision processing is the most suitable method. Through the laser mask to realize the microstructure etching, can improve the photovoltaic cell surface quality, enhance the photoelectric conversion efficiency.
As far as etching technology is concerned, Daqi's self-developed chalcogenide laser etching equipment has realized mass production and sales in 2015, and large-size whole line laser etching equipment has been delivered in chalcogenide head enterprises. At the same time, Daqi set up a subsidiary focusing on semiconductor materials Daqi Semiconductor, in the semiconductor fine processing has the core technology, 2021 has won the OFweek "WK Cup" best laser industry application case award. At the same time, in May this year in Shanghai SNEC photovoltaic exhibition, Sheng Xiong laser also released 90W green light picosecond large spot etching equipment, photovoltaic cell manufacturing needs into the enterprise strategic planning.
Semiconductor Material Processing - Laser Doping
Semiconductor lattices require the introduction of special materials (typically boron and phosphorus) to provide carriers to achieve the desired electrical properties. The ideal semiconductor lattice should be as uniform and stable as possible, however, as the semiconductor components are made smaller and smaller, and gradually show a variety of microscopic quantum effects, laser doping technology has been introduced.
Laser doping is similar to other laser processes in that it involves the localized liquid-phase thermal effect generated by a high-power laser, which irradiates the surface of the semiconductor material, allowing the special material to be doped in and spread uniformly. This technology still has the potential to be further explored, and many enterprises and research institutions are still developing and researching on it.
In the field of laser doping, HaiMuXing is plowing into TOPCon laser doping, and is the first in the industry to develop fully automatic TOPCon laser doping equipment in 2022, and has signed a contract of more than 350GW in the first half of 2023. dier laser successfully developed SE laser doping equipment as early as 2016, and it is the first domestic enterprise that applies the laser equipment in mass production to the PERC process, and will be the first domestic enterprise that applies the laser equipment in mass production to the PERC process in 2023. Since then, with the landing of new orders from a number of important customers, the cumulative order capacity of laser doping equipment applied to TOPCon by Dier Laser has exceeded 300GW.
Photovoltaic Cell Surface Metallization - Laser Transfer Printing
In the production of solar cells, it is necessary to coat the required paste on specific flexible light-transmitting materials, which is traditionally done by contact printing processes such as screen printing. Laser transfer technology uses a graphical scanning laser beam to transfer the paste from the flexible translucent material to form the grid line. This technology can effectively reduce the consumption of silver paste, to ensure that the grid line is sufficiently fine and uniform, but also according to the structure of the battery to change the shape of the slot, a variety of battery structure can be adapted. At present, screen printing is still the mainstream of the industry, to promote the "silver-free", to achieve cost reduction and efficiency is still a wide space.
Dier laser transfer technology has been demonstrated in the PERC production line, TOPCon experimental demonstration is also in progress, the future will be able to be applied to N-type technology routes. 2022, September, Dier laser announced the first laser transfer printing order equipment officially shipped, which marks the photovoltaic battery laser transfer printing technology has made key progress, laser transfer printing equipment is about to formally enter the mass production stage.
Photovoltaic power generation is a key development area in China. In recent years, the national support policy frequently, according to the "14th Five-Year Plan" Renewable Energy Development Plan, 2025 China's renewable energy generation will reach 3.3 trillion kilowatt hours or so. In the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, renewable energy power generation in the society as a whole in the increase in electricity consumption accounted for more than 50%.
It is not difficult to see, in the fossil energy depletion, global environmental issues highlighted the background, the photovoltaic industry cost downward, demand is steadily rising, photovoltaic installed capacity will bring the industry chain scale effect, the future will be one of the focus of the laser head of enterprises to chase.
