Batman – Novel wet-chemical batch processes for future industrial silicon solar cells

In the Batman project, ISFH is endeavouring to set up a new wet-chemical batch tool at ISFH SolarTeC, which is a necessary building block for the development of POLO BJ and POLO IBC solar cells at ISFH, which we want to prepare for the future establishment of industrial production. The new batch tool should be able to carry out all industrially established wet-chemical processes, in particular the alkaline texture and the HCl/O3 cleaning pre-developed by ISFH and RENA. In addition, the system will be able to perform a new type of alkaline polish that can achieve even smoother surfaces and is highly selective towards thin dielectric layers. In the Batman project, HCl/O3 cleaning of smooth and textured surfaces is to be optimised and integrated into the manufacturing process for large-area POLO BJ and POLO IBC solar cells. The new batch tool will thus make an important contribution to ISFH SolarTeC’s transition from today’s outdated M2 wafers (156.75 mm edge length) to the future M12 wafers (210 mm edge length), which are becoming the new industry standard.
The new batch tool enables ISFH to process the industrially attractive POLO BJ and POLO IBC cell concepts on M12 wafers using the latest wet-chemical processes. ISFH’s POLO BJ and POLO IBC processes can be transferred to pilot production on M12 format more easily and therefore with less economic risk.