MB-PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Cell) from Meyer Burger is an advanced cell technology that offers customers the opportunity to substantially increase the efficiency and performance of their existing solar cell production lines. The orders received in the last few days and weeks for this mass production-capable and industry-proven cell technology means that the production capacity for cell equipment at the Technology and Product Centre at Roth & Rau AG in Hohenstein are already at full capacity all the way into the second quarter of 2015. The delivery of the various systems will be finalized in the course of the first and second quarters 2015.
As announced by Meyer Burger Technology Ltd, leading Asian suppliers of efficient, high-quality solar cells continue to embrace the proven, industry-tested and mass production-capable MB-PERC upgrade cell technology. With MB-PERC technology, the efficiency of a solar cell with mono-crystalline material can be increased up to 20.5%. This corresponds to an improvement in efficiency of 1.0% compared to standard solar cells in mass production.
The MB-PERC upgrade cell technology is being deployed on the MAiA 2.1 system platform. This platform is the key equipment for cell coating within the MB-PERC process. The mass production capability of the MBPERC technology and MAiA systems was already proven last year with numerous customers, and this increase in orders further underlines the industry-leading position of the MAiA 2.1 system platform. The orders received during the past few weeks will increase capacity at the customers by over 700MW and have a total contract volume of around CHF 12 – 15 million.
The MB-PERC technology is based on passivation with aluminium oxide on the rear side as well as silicon nitride coatings on the front and rear sides of the solar cells. The maximization of gas utilisation during the solar cell coating process and the positive influence on subsequent process steps enables MB-PERC to deliver cost-saving potentials in a range of areas. This includes a reduction of up to 30% in the use of expensive aluminium pastes for the solar cell contacting system. MB-PERC is thus particularly suited as an upgrade option for existing production lines. In the adaptation of other process steps for maximum cell efficiencies, while simultaneously reducing production costs, Meyer Burger is providing the extensive know-how of its competence center for coating solutions.