Why do thin-film solar cells need to be cut with a UV laser?

      Solar energy is one of the main clean and renewable new energy sources to replace fossil energy in the future. As a relatively mature solar cell currently very promising, thin-film solar cells have the advantages of saving raw materials, low cost, good weak light absorption, and being able to produce large-area cells.

       Laser cutting has become an important technology for integrated thin-film solar cells, which is very attractive for manufacturing large-area integrated-Si thin-film solar cells, and can effectively simplify the manufacturing process of the cells. Compared with mask cutting, laser cutting can reduce costs and increase the effective area of ​​the entire battery. Therefore, laser cutting has become one of the important technologies for integrated-Si solar cells.

       At present, the applied laser cutting process is realized through the combination of near infrared (1064nm) and green light (532nm). The interaction between the lasers of these two wavelengths and the material is the thermal effect of transferring energy through thermal conduction. During the cutting process, the thermal conduction will inevitably cause the heat-affected zone of the cutting edge and the crystallization and defect concentration of the amorphous silicon film at the cutting edge. These factors will reduce the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the battery, and even enhance the light-induced attenuation effect of the battery. Ultraviolet (355nm) laser etching utilizes its short wavelength and high photon energy, which can directly break the chemical bonds of the atomic components of the amorphous silicon linking substance, realize the "cold" processing of the processing effect, and reduce the heat of the etching edge. Influence and the crystallization and defect concentration caused by it.

       Thin-film solar cell technology has matured, with low manufacturing costs, and is not restricted by the bottleneck of crystalline silicon raw materials. It has become the most mature product in solar cells and has played a huge role in promoting the development of the entire clean and renewable energy.