PVMaT Cost Reductions in the EFG High-Volume PV Manufacturing Line: Annual Report, August 1998-December 2000

The PVMaT 5A2 program at ASE Americas is a three-year program that addresses topics in the development of manufacturing systems, low-cost processing approaches, and flexible manufacturing methods. The three-year objectives are as follows: (1) implementation of computer-aided manufacturing systems, including Statistical Process Control, to aid in electrical and mechanical yield improvements of10%, (2) development and implementation of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, (3) deployment of wafer production from large-diameter (up to 1 m) EFG cylinders and wafer thicknesses down to 95 microns, (4) development of low-damage, high-yield laser-cutting methods for thin wafers, (5) cell designs for >15% cell efficiencies on 100-micron-thick EFG wafers, (6) development of Rapid Thermal Anneal processingfor thin high-efficiency EFG cells, and (7) deployment of flexible manufacturing methods for diversification in wafer size and module design. In the second year of this program, the significant accomplishments in each of three tasks that cover these areas are as follows: Task 4-Manufacturing systems, Task 5-Low-cost processes, and Task 6-Flexible manufacturing.