Oerlikon Solar and
Sun Well Solar, a subsidiary of CMC Magnetics, announced today that the ramp-up
of the 40 MW amorphous thin film silicon production line has been completed
one month ahead of schedule. The installation includes the innovative Oerlikon
Solar LPCVD TCO front and back contact technology, which has clearly proven
its capability in mass production over the last 6 months. Average module power
production yields exceeded contractual targets. The Sun Well IEC certification
was accomplished in October 2008. The completion of the Sun Well production
ramp-up marks the first successful "end-to-end" installation of a
thin film silicon production line within the PV industry.
Every 50 seconds a PV module leaves the Sun Well Solar manufacturing line,
resulting in more than 1,250 panels or 110 kW produced per day. At this stage
of the emerging and quickly growing thin film silicon PV industry this output
is equivalent to about 10% of the world’s module production, making Sun
Well one of the largest in Asia. Oerlikon Solar and Sun Well have already announced
plans to expand Sun Well’s production capacity in the future.
“Our decision to utilize Oerlikon Solar technology has been impressively
confirmed by the timely completion of our first thin film production line”,
said Bob Wong, Chairman of CMC Magnetics group. “Especially in this challenging
market environment, the performance of our production has to be the most cost
competitive in the industry.”
Success through cooperation
Experienced Sun Well engineers were very helpful in resolving critical issues
during the ramp up with Oerlikon Solar specialists. Together, the project team
was able to achieve all important milestones.
“This was our first end-to-end project and a very visible test of both
our technology and our execution capability”, said Jeannine Sargent, CEO
of Oerlikon Solar. “The teams exceeded all expectations. I am very proud
of their work. Through their efforts we are demonstrating to customers that
we can deliver on our promises.”
On this project Oerlikon Solar has implemented a special high performance front
and back contact method in its production lines. A Low Pressure Chemical Vapor
Deposition (LPCVD) process is used to generate a transparent and conductive
Transparent Conductive Oxide (TCO) layer which is superior to conventional methods.
The light transmission and scattering properties of this layer are very important
for the efficiency, with which the solar module can convert sun light into electric
power. The excellent performance of the Sun Well PV modules and the outstanding
line productivity clearly demonstrate Oerlikon Solar’s TCO technology
mass production is mature and ready for the scale that the industry will demand.
“Just one more milestone in Oerlikon Solar’s mission to make solar
power economically viable.”