engineering the solar age - Suppliers for Photovoltaics

Quality assurance and process control for photovoltaic manufacturing

dr. schwab IT

is a worldwide operating company developing inspection systems for high-tech industrial applications such as crystalline wafers and cells, as well as thin-film solar modules. Our main focus is research and development for practical, fast and robust solutions covering all aspects of the production process. All developments are based on two complementary fundamental principles: quality assurance combined with process optimization.

dr. schwab IT

develops inline and offline inspection solutions for precise and rapid analysis of nearly all types of solar cells and panels. Equipped with spectrometers and cameras developed in-house, our systems are capable of fulfilling all measurement tasks within the cycle time of production and measuring the complete surface area of samples. Beyond quality checking, dr. schwab IT provides specific tools to support process optimization by correlating process parameter variations with yield deviations. Database supported modules allow permanent monitoring of all process stations. Analyzing the effects of parameter changes in real-time enables automated closed loop functionality to control and optimize the complete manufacturing chain.

FPI ^wafer

is an inline solution for examining the texturing of uncoated wafers and the thickness of SiN coating on mono- and polycrystalline silicon wafers. It allows high-speed and high-resolution measurement for analyzing the spectral reflectance of wafers. The results provide detailed information about the degree and uniformity of texturing, coating thickness and color.

FPI ^solar

offers inline inspection for the manufacture of large scale a-Si or µ-Si and CIS/CIGS based thin-film panels. The system provides thickness evaluation of multiple layers at nanoscale resolution and simultaneously analyzes the spectral haze of the TCO layer. Both tasks are performed for the complete surface in one pass. The modular design of the FPI solar suits virtually any sample size, e.g. a panel width of 2.2 m. Depending on the application purpose, the system can also be equipped with InGaAs cameras or with CCD line scan cameras.

FPI ^lab

is a multi-purpose measurement tool suitable for laboratory use. It supports in-depth analysis for all types of cell and panel. Camera and spectrometer inspection allow full surface defect detection and layer thickness measurement. Areas of particular interest can be analyzed with one µm resolution.