German materials supplier Heraeus has developed a new range of silver pastes for low-temperature processing.
The Heraeus Photovoltaics business supplies front- and back-side silver pastes for crystalline solar cells. The company's latest screen printable metallisation paste series, SOL500, is designed for different types of photovoltaics (PVs).
One of the pastes, SOL530, has been developed specifically for organic solar cells, allowing for printing over a large-area with minimal pinholes. Reduced pinholes improve the current flow from solar cells. The curing temperature range for the SOL530 past is between 125-135°C and curing time is 5-10 minutes.
Due to the faster cure times and lower temperature processing requirements of the SOL500 Series, all have low resistivity, providing a higher efficiency for solar cell applications.
Heraeus manufactures high volumes of thick film pastes for several industries. Heraeus SOL Series of silver pastes are formulated to provide higher efficiencies and wider processing windows, resulting in better yields, and higher output for cell manufacturers.
Sputtering
As well as its silver pastes for metallisation, Heraeus supplies several other products for solar cell production. Thin-film solar cells are gaining importance as an alternative to silicon solar cells.
Sputtering is a key technology for the production of thin layers in these devices. In solar cell production, sputtering is used to create many layers: semi-conductive and conductive layers for front-and back-side contacts. The source of material for these layers is the sputtering target.
Heraeus has developed a variety of sputtering targets for all current types of solar cells. The quality and purity of the sputtering targets impact the solar cell's functional efficiency and performance.
+Plastic Electronics will be appearing at the Organic Photovoltaics 2011 conference on 20-21 September in Philadelpia, the US.
To sign up for your copy immediately, click the link below, contact publications@pira-international.com or visit our subscriptions page.
Documents and links
-
Heraeus
Heraeus produces materials such as conductive inks and films for plastic electronics
External Link
-
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine, published six times a year, for just £100/€110/$160. Find out more here
External Link
-
Organic Photovoltaics 2011
Uniting technology developers, investors and users for a candid and comprehensive discussion of the opportunities and challenges affecting the organic photovoltaics industry
External Link