Photovoltaics

In the photovoltaic industry, wet benches are used in numerous process steps – particularly for the cleaning, etching, and surface treatment of solar wafers. Although these systems share many common design principles, they can differ significantly in structure, size, and process configuration depending on the specific application. Solar cell wafers, for example, are etched and cleaned in such systems. Today, these wafers are typically around 150 µm thick or thinner, with ongoing efforts to reduce thicknesses to below 100 µm. They are square in shape and usually no larger than 210 × 210 mm². Due to their thinness, they are extremely fragile and processed in very large quantities—with throughputs of up to 15,000 wafers per hour. The main challenge lies in safely handling flexible yet fragile products at such high volumes. A challenge that exateq has addressed by optimising both the handling systems and process parameters. More detailed information can be found in the respective product descriptions. At the other end of the spectrum, the requirements in research and laboratory environments are quite different. Here, the primary considerations are intermittent operation, small batch sizes and high process flexibility within limited space.