Feb 14 2011
Suniva, a USA-based producer of monocrystalline silicon solar cells and modules, has declared that its patented ARTisun Select series solar cells are designed to achieve an efficiency of 19%, an achievement for screen-printed cells under mass-scale production.
The company is said to have achieved the improved efficiency by utilizing a standardized single-sided emitter besides utilizing other patented methods on the front side of the cells. By achieving this, Suniva has become the first company to productively leverage the ion implantation process as a changing technology in the large scale production of solar cells.
The exclusive trademark protected processing capabilities mixed with its collaborative research and formulation of ion implantation expertise allows the company to introduce ARTisun Select, the first of its kind product into full production with an unique production technology and to the market. In addition to that, the production process introduced by Suniva does away with two manufacturing steps thus allowing cost- effective production process. To perfect its ion implantation process in its manufacturing, the company collaborated with Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates in the development process for a number of years.
Currently, Suniva is in the process of integrating its low cost cells in its module lines with module level efficiency ratios of 16+%. As a next rational step, the company is looking forward to introducing ARTisun Select product line in its manufacturing process to enable the introduction of its next generation products that are under various stages of testing. Its technology roadmap is constructed around its number of patented and NREL certified cell structures to achieve 20% efficiency.