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US 2014/0370641 A1Published application
Processing photovoltaic substrates
AssigneeFirst Solar, Inc.
InventorsDaniel Burgard, Joshua Conley, James Hinkle, Stephen Murphy, Thomas Truman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for processing a coated glass substrate may include a high-temperature activation process.
Claims20
A method of processing a plurality of coated photovoltaic substrates, the method comprising:
- coating a plurality of substrates with one or more semiconductor materials;
- edge processing the plurality of substrates;
- grouping the plurality of edge-processor substrates into a batch for annealing, the batch comprising two or more substrates into a batch for annealing;
- batch annealing the entirety of the batch of substrates by passing the batch of substrates through a thermal processing chamber where the substrates of the batch are heated to a temperature of greater than or equal to 300° C. and less than or equal to 800° C. for a time period of greater than or equal to 30 seconds and less than or equal to 30 minutes, the thermal processing chamber having a plurality of zones, each having a unique set of process conditions.
1 more element
A method of processing a plurality of coated photovoltaic substrates, the method comprising:
- coating a plurality of substrates with one or more semiconductor materials;
- grouping the plurality of substrates into a batch for annealing, the batch comprising two or more substrates;
- bath annealing the entirety of the batch of substrates by passing the batch of substrates through a thermal processing chamber;
- at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined period of time, where the thermal processing chamber processes the batch of substrates through a temperature ramp-up period, a temperature annealing period, and a temperature cool down period.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.