Feb 14 2015

One Step Interconnect Article

"...For the overall production line there are several advantages, three laser scribing machines can be replaced with one OSI machine, several of the module’s air-to-vacuum transitions can be removed and the module never has to be exposed to air until the stack is complete. The vacuum-to-air transit can only take place near room temperature but most of the coating steps take place at high temperatures so heating and cooling stages are needed, but using OSI means that the temperature profile along the production line can be much flatter, saving energy and making the thermal process control easier.

Also OSI removes the need for heating, cooling and load-lock equipment from the line, meaning the overall panel manufacturing time is reduced because the line is shorter. The OSI process uses combined additive and subtractive micro-manufacturing to help thin-film PV manufacturers improve panel efficiency and drive down costs."  

 

One Step Interconnect (OSI) article published in Commercial Micro Manufacturing magazine.
OSI - One Step Interconnect Technology for thin-film PV: combining large area additive and subtractive micro-manufacturing 
Adam Brunton, Strategic Technologist, M-Solv Ltd