Blind faith: BT Imaging hopes to bring solar-wafer inspection and sorting into the light
Solar cell manufacturers have been buying wafers on blind faith, knowing precisely what they are getting in terms of the silicon substrates’ physical specifications but staying in the dark when it comes to their electrical quality. It’s not for lack of desire: “what you can’t see is what you get” is not a game the cellies and waferers want to play forever. They’re keenly aware of the issue of variable wafer quality—the silicon slice makes up some 80% of the finished cell cost, after all—and lament its deleterious impact on cell performance and conversion efficiency distributions. There just hasn’t been any way to quickly and accurately monitor the wafers’ electrical characteristics, and garner consistent, in-depth—and actionable—data in real time. There may be a solution that can help bring solar wafer e-quality into the light.