Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

• Popular Technical Papers

  • Overview of automation in the photovoltaic industry
  • Understanding moisture ingress and packaging requirements for photovoltaic modules
  • Evaluation of encapsulant materials for PV applications
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  • PV sector outlook: an analyst’s perspective

• Featured Technical Papers

  • Transparent conducting oxide deposition techniques for thin-film photovoltaics
  • Comprehensive and advanced quality assurance measures for optimal yields from PV power plants
  • Surface passivation of silicon solar cells using industrially relevant Al2O3 deposition techniques
  • Influence of a-Si:H deposition temperature on thermal stability of a-Si:H/SiNx:H stacks
  • Integrated loops: a prerequisite for sustainable and environmentally-friendly polysilicon production

It is not surprising that the photovoltaics industry has adopted many of the same metrics developed for the semiconductor industry. With suppliers serving both markets, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) organized the PV Group to, among other things, look at the portability of standards between these two industries.  This paper will examine the application of two such standards, the Guide to Calculate Cost of Ownership (COO) Metrics for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment (SEMI E35) [1] and the Standard for Definition and Measurement of Equipment Productivity (SEMI E79) [2]. This latter standard is also known as overall equipment efficiency (OEE). Recent work at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) regarding cost reduction also references SEMI E35. The application of these standards is examined using a case study comparing an in-line doping furnace and a phosphorus (POCl₃) batch furnace.

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