The contract with Apollo Precision, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hanergy Solar Group, covers the supply of a TENUIS II machine for buffer layer deposition, a central component for the manufacturing of CIGS modules. The technique is a promising development on the way to efficient we-chemical coating of thin-film solar modules made of copper-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) on glass.
The second generation production line has a modular cluster build basis, which facilitates significant reduction in floor space and the simultaneous one-side coating of two substrates. Due to new and unique concepts in terms of dosing and temperature control, the developers were successful in reducing the process time, which has a positive effect and a considerably higher output in production.
In October 2013, the Hanergy Solar Group achieved an 18.7 percent PV module efficiency using Solibro’s CIGS thin-film technology. The group has since taken a further step forward by achieving a conversion efficiency rate of 21 percent for its CIGS thin film solar cells of 1.0 square centimetres, using the same technology, in May 2014. According to the company this is one of the highest conversion efficiencies of CIGS cells in the world with confirmation from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.
Solibro’s CIGS uses the Singulus buffer layer deposition technology. The company has been cooperating with Solibro for a long time on the development on efficient CIGS production equipment and in January 2014 Hanergy entered into two sales and service contracts for the provision of a total 600 MW CIGS thin film solar manufacturing turnkey lines in Caofeidian, China. The production machine with TENUIS II will be a key component of the project representing a key milestone for the company and its attempts to firm up the market position in CIGS solar thin-film business.
Singulus is a company that develops innovative technologies for efficient production processes, which only make use of resources conservatively. The company's aim is to use new production technology, combined with sustainable processes and the use of novel materials, to decouple the use of resources from economic growth in the long-term. In the Semiconductor segment the company focuses its activities on the vacuum coating of wafers with ultra-thin layers for the production of MRAM memory, thin-film write/read heads and other semiconductor applications.
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