How are polycrystalline cells manufactured? Polycrystalline sillicon (poly crystal/ poly-Si) or multicrystalline silicon (multi crystal/ mc-Si) cells are manufactured from cast square ingots, produced by cooling and solidifying molten silicon. The liquid silicon is poured into blocks which are cut into thin plates. The solidification of the material results into cells that contain many crystals, making [...]

Crystal seeds of silicon are in the so called Czochralski process put into melted polycrystalline silicon for further purification and processed with the puller into cylindrical silicon ingots (for monocrystaline cells) or with the dss furnace into quadratic silicon blocks (for polycrystalline cells). These ingots are then – depending on the geometrical shape requirements – [...]

Why are solar cells blue or dark coloured? PV cells usually have a dark colour as they are designed to reflect as few light as possible. This way the solar cell will produce maximum power output. What are the typical colours for solar cells? The monocrystalline cells are typically blue, black or grey, while poly [...]

What is anti reflection (AR) coating for a solar cell? The anti-reflection (AR) coating on a solar cell helps to increase the amount of light absorbed into the cell, which results in higher currents. For the thin anti-reflection (AR) coating silicon nitride or titanium oxide is used. When the anti-reflection coating is left off, the [...]

How are mono crystalline cells manufactured? Mono crystalline silicone cells (also known as single crystal) are often manufactured from a single crystal ingot of high purity. These ingots are usually grown by the Czochralski method (which is the crucible drawing process). There are two standard sizes of 12.5 or 15cm (4 or 5 inches). In order to [...]