Fiber lasers are becoming a reality for the solar industry

Fiber lasers are becoming a reality for the solar industry

Fiber lasers are gaining acceptance as a good match for elements of the solar industry. Technical evaluations of SPI’s (Southampton, U.K.) pulsed fiber laser show that they can be used in a number of key applications for the manufacture of solar cells.

The company sees a lot of attention going into thin-film technologies. Thin films of material such as molybdenum, ITO, and TCO, typically in the order of a few microns thick on glass substrates, are used and need to be scribed. Pulsed lasers are ideal for this applications because their high repetition rates allow for sufficient pulse overlap at high processing speeds.

Within silicon solar cell technology, there are also a number of target applications, including edge isolation and silicon cell cutting. Traditional q-switched lasers, used for crystalline silicon edge isolation, suffer from high levels of debris and micro cracking. Initial trials with pulsed fiber laser demonstrate that using high pulse frequencies improve scribe quality.

The company also announced a silicon-cutting process suited for cutting of crystalline silicon solar cell where cutting speeds in excess of 6 m/min can be achieved with just 200 W with smooth cut edges. The process can be used to cut shapes, which is seen as a limitation of traditional saw or scribe and break techniques. For more information, visit http://www.spilasers.com.

Christina Nickolas