Oerlikon Solar, leading global supplier of field-proven thin film production equipment, introduced today its fully developed transparent conductive oxide (TCO) 1200 coating plant. These light-transmitting layers act as electrodes and “light traps” which are key components in thin film silicon modules. Oerlikon Solar is the only company to offer the combination of the TCO process step with its own production technology for solar modules of thin film silicon.

The first solar factory of this new generation has been built at ersol Thin Film GmbH in Erfurt, Germany. Production is expected to start in August of this year.

“This customer activity further solidifies our leadership position over our competitors in the marketplace,” said Dr. Uwe Krüger, chief executive officer of Oerlikon. “By introducing this unique TCO technology, we become the first-to-market and advance the performance of thin film silicon modules together with our customers.”

The TCO 1200 becomes part of the fully automated factory design FAB 1200 which allows Oerlikon Solar to integrate all production technologies and processes to create a turnkey solar factory. Oerlikon Solar the world’s only plant builder provides expertise for the central manufacturing steps — TCO coating, thin film silicon coating, laser structuring, final assembly.

During the TCO process, the optical absorption of the TCO layer must be low and the light-trapping potential as high as possible. Ultimately, these factors determine the performance of the solar modules and directly reduce the cost per watt peak. In the past, manufacturers of thin film solar modules bought the TCO-coated glass panes directly from the glass manufacturers. For that reason, it was impossible to perform selective optimization of these key components of thin film solar modules.

The new plant from Oerlikon Solar is based on a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process, using low-cost, environmentally friendly zinc oxide instead of the commonly used fluoride doped tin oxide. To ensure quality, Oerlikon Solar conducts direct testing during the production process by sampling TCO-coated glass.

For more information, please visit at www.oerlikon.com