Mr. Michael Heaven reports

AURORA QUALIFIES DECIMA GEMINI FOR INLINE MEASUREMENT OF BISON BIFACIAL WAFERS

Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. has qualified its Decima Gemini inline measurement system for use in the manufacturing of "BiSoN" bifacial photovoltaic cells.

Bifacial cells generate 10 per cent to 30 per cent more power than traditional one-sided cells by using both direct and reflected light incident on both their upper and lower surfaces. The BiSoN cell technology developed at ISC Konstanz has been licensed for volume manufacturing to several major and emerging solar cell manufacturers worldwide. ISC Konstanz and Centrotherm, one of the leading production equipment suppliers, have also partnered as the BiSoN alliance to promote the widespread adoption of BiSoN technology.

The industry predicts significant growth in the production of bifacial cells over the next 10 years with global production increasing to 30 per cent to 40 per cent by 2027 (ITRPV 2017). Because of certain material properties inherent to bifacial cell designs, Aurora's patented Decima infrared measurement technology is the only non-destructive method capable of characterizing and monitoring the bifacial production process.

"We are excited to have qualified our Decima bifacial wafer measurement technology with ISC Konstanz," said Gordon Deans, Aurora's chief operating officer. "This accomplishment provides our current and future customers confidence in the capabilities of our products and reconfirms our unique ability to accurately measure this advanced material structure for manufacturing quality control. We look forward to participating as an invited speaker in the fourth annual bifiPV workshop in Konstanz, Germany, Oct. 25 to [Oct.] 26, 2017."

Dr. Radovan Kopecek, managing director, advanced cell concepts at ISC Konstanz, said: "Aurora's Decima measurement system shows a unique capability for measuring the sheet resistance of both the front side and the back side of our BiSoN bifacial wafers. In particular, no other method can accurately isolate the back side sheet resistance from the sheet resistance of the wafer bulk. This capability is very helpful for monitoring and process control during the fabrication of this part of a bifacial cell. Additionally, the Decima performs all of its measurements with high accuracy and repeatability. In summary, we believe that the Decima is an essential element to achieve a high level of quality and consistency in the production of bifacial cells."

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