Qcells will become the world’s first solar PV company to deploy disruptive fine-line metallization technology from Lumet for its lines of photovoltaic solar cells. Qcells currently operates the largest solar module factory of its kind in the United States and has announced the largest investment in US solar history to build a complete and sustainable solar supply chain in the United States.
The explosive adoption of solar energy around the world has been driven by society’s need to replace its dependence on fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy. Today, solar energy is the fastest growing energy source on the planet, a result of the industry’s relentless pursuit to improve solar cell efficiency and reduce production costs.
The biggest cost of solar cell production is the metallization step, in which conductive silver fingers (collectors) are printed on the surface of the cell. The industry has long sought to reduce finger width, to decrease silver consumption (lower cost) and reduce light shadows (increase efficiency). However, screen printing technologies are now stuck at finger widths of around twenty microns and are therefore unable to deliver the efficiency and cost improvements the industry is seeking.
Greater efficiency and lower cost
Lumet’s fine line metallization technology, capable of producing finger widths even smaller than ten microns, will now enable photovoltaic solar cell producers to achieve higher cell efficiency and lower cost.
“After extensive evaluation and testing, Qcells has decided to adopt Lumet’s metallization technology for its future photovoltaic solar cell lines,” said Dr. Danielle Merfeld, executive vice president and global chief technology officer at Qcells.
“We see tremendous potential in Lumet’s metallization technology, which is a breakthrough on multiple fronts, setting records for thinner lines, lower cost, higher efficiency, higher speed and smaller size. Additionally, with Qcells’ commitment to expanding our US manufacturing, the low CAPEX and high level of automation of Lumet systems are very attractive. For all of those reasons, we are delighted that Qcells is the first to bring this technology to market and we look forward to taking further steps to deepen our strategic partnership with Lumet,” he continued.
Lumet Founder and President Benny Landa added: “We are delighted to partner with Qcells and look forward to collaboratively bringing Lumet technology to the mass production solar PV market. Qcells has a rich history of pioneering and innovation. Not only is Qcells one of the world’s earliest solar energy pioneers, it was also the first to achieve gigawatt-scale production and, to this day, continues to be at the forefront of innovation, most recently with the introduction of LECO (Laser Enhanced Contact Optimization). technology. And now it brings the benefits of Lumet technology to the solar photovoltaic market”
