High Volume Manufacturing of Silicon-Film Solar Cells and Modules; Final Subcontract Report, 26 February 2003 - 30 September 2003

The objective of the PV Manufacturing R&D subcontract was to continue to improve AstroPower's technology for manufacturing Silicon-Film* wafers, solar cells, and modules to reduce costs, and increase production yield, throughput, and capacity. As part of the effort, new technology such as the continuous back metallization screen-printing system and the laser scribing system were developed andimplemented. Existing processes, such as the silicon nitride antireflection coating system and the fire-through process were optimized. Improvements were made to the statistical process control (SPC) systems of the major manufacturing processes: feedstock preparation, wafer growth, surface etch, diffusion, and the antireflection coating process. These process improvements and improved processcontrol have led to an increase of 5% relative power, and nearly 15% relative improvement in mechanical and visual yield.