Fraunhofer ISE orders Singulus sputtering system

German photovoltaics (PV) equipment maker Singulus Technologies AG (ETR:SNG) said on Monday it will supply a vacuum sputtering system for the Center for High Efficiency Solar Cells (CHS) that the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy System ISE (Fraunhofer ISE) is currently bringing online in Freiburg, Germany.

The company's VISTARIS 600 machine will be used for the deposition of layers for next-generation high-efficiency solar cells and for the development of related innovative materials and processes. Development work for the coating system will include achieving low-damage deposition on various substrates.

Fraunhofer ISE is exploring the creation of tandem cells to improve efficiency and this type of stacking of two solar cells requires functional thin layers with adjusted optical and electronic characteristics, Singulus said. Its VISTARIS 600 machine provides for the deposition of oxidic and metallic layer systems using industrially scalable sputtering processes, it added.

Singulus chief executive Stefan Rinck also expressed the company's desire to work with Fraunhofer ISE's R&D specialists on hydrogen use and fuel cells.

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