Photovoltaic screen printing stencil manufacturing process diagram

What is fine line screen printing for solar cell metallization?

Fine line screen printing for solar cell metallization is one of the most critical steps in the entire production chain of solar cells, facing the challenge of providing a conductive grid with a minimum amount of resource consumption at an ever increasing demand for higher production speeds.

How does screen printing work for metallization of solar cells?

Schematic illustration of the screen printing process for the metallization of solar cells. In Step A, a squeegee moves across the screen with the velocity vflooding at a certain angle θ squeegee. This motion pushes the paste into the underlying mesh.

Can flatbed screen printing be used for metallization of solar cells?

Sebastian Tepner and Andreas Lorenz contributed equally to this work. This paper presents a comprehensive overview on printing technologies for metallization of solar cells. Throughout the last 30 years, flatbed screen printing has established itself as the predominant metallization process for the mass production of silicon solar cells.

Can a stencil printing process improve a conventional screen printing technique?

In this study conducted by ISFH, a stencil printing process was implemented to evaluate possible improvements versus the conventional screen printing approach. Analysis revealed that the screen printing technique tends to produce solar cell fingers that have a wave-like shape along the finger direction.

Can flexographic printing be used for solar cell metallization?

These activities gathered a new momentum in the early 2010 years, when several research groups presented promising results of feasibility studies using flexographic printing, 370 - 372 rotary screen printing, 373 and gravure printing 369 for solar cell metallization.

How does silver screen printing work?

When the cell is cofired (in the next production step), the paste etches through the silicon nitride and silver contacts the underlying silicon to form the n -type contacts to the solar cell. This tutorial focuses on the silver screen printing process as the design of the screens is critical for the way the pattern is used to form the metal grid.