Ultra-lean consumption fixed abrasive wire sawing

During the establishment and tremendous growth of the solar cell industry,Norwegian industry has, due to a strong competence base within materials technology, taken and maintained a position as a world leading supplier of silicon ingots and wafers. The position of Norwegian industry is seriously threatened by competitors in low-cost countries. Companies like NorSun has therefore increasingly focus on differentiation through innovative step change technology and consistent high-performance quality products. The overall goals of the project has been to develop the new generation technology for fixed abrasive wire sawing of silicon (FAS) and to demonstrate by pilot-scale production that this technology reduces the wafer cost by at least 30 %. In the project, NorSun has partnered up with a world leading diamond wire supplier, an innovative international recycling company, and the leading edge research institutes SINTEF. The following results have been achieved: (i) stable process for diamond wire sawing with 60 og 80 um core wire, (ii) >50% reduction in diamond wire consumption through innovative wire saw modifications, (iii) recycle-friendly kerf melted successfully for multi-ingot production, (iv) next generation wire saw tested with good results and under implementation.

During the establishment and tremendous growth of the solar cell industry in the last decade, Norwegian industry has, due to a strong competence base within materials technology, taken and maintained a position as a world leading supplier of silicon ingot s and wafers. The solar cell industry is presently in a crisis due to the fact that the production capacity has increased even more rapidly than the market demand and the position of Norwegian industry is seriously threatened by competitors in low-cost c ountries (mainly China). Companies like NorSun therefore increasingly focus on differentiation through innovative step change technology and consistent high-performance quality products. The overall goals of the proposed project are to develop the new gen eration technology for fixed abrasive wire sawing of silicon (FAS) and to demonstrate by pilot-scale production that this technology reduces the wafer cost by at least 30 % compared with the present FAS process performance in NorSun. If the project is suc cessful, the new technology will constitute a major step change with respect to cost and quality compared with today's solutions, and will form the basis for monocrystalline silicon wafer supply for the next generation of high performance solar cells. In the project, NorSun partner up with a world leading diamond wire supplier, an innovative international recycling company, and the leading edge research institutes SINTEF and ECN (the Netherlands).