Photon etc. and the Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy (IRDEP) in France have agreed to showcase Photon etc’s Photovoltaic (PV) Hyperspectral Analyzer in order to demonstrate its performance and business value for the photovoltaic industry.
Image Credit: Shutterstock/Nguyen Quang Ngoc Tonkin
The showcase is funded by the Ministère du Développement économique, de l'Innovation et de l'Exportation (MDEIE) of Quebec (Canada) and offers an opportunity for Photon etc. to market a new and innovative product. Potential customers will be able to test Photon etc’s PV Hyperspectral Analyzer on site and thereby mitigate both technological and financial risks related to the purchase of a new characterization system.
Photon etc. and IRDEP have jointly developed the PV Hyperspectral Analyzer in order to produce a highly efficient reflectance and photoluminescence spectral imaging system. This product brings new possibilities to developers and producers of thin film PVs, which are more complex than crystalline silicon technologies. Current emphasis is on copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) family of compounds, but the system is applicable to most heterogen materials.
Photon etc’s president, Sébastien Blais-Ouellette, says that “thanks to this technology showcase funded by MDEIE, we will be able to demonstrate not only theoretical concepts, but empirical results obtained in real conditions. These results will help convince other laboratories and manufacturers of the benefits provided by the system”.
This technology showcase will set a standard for a new type of PV Hyperspectral Analyzer for thin film technologies. As Bernard-Alexandre Gaulin, Photon etc’s Director of Sales and Marketing, explains: “the demand for such analyzers is growing and there is still no product ready on the market. It is an exceptional opportunity for Photon etc. to be a leader in the development of thin film PV characterization and quality control systems”.
The high sensitivity of the analyzer allows each component of the PV material to be characterized for assessing the properties of individual cells. For research and development, this will lead to a better understanding of the thin film PV structure and allow optimization of fabrication processes. In a production setting, the PV Hyperspectral Analyzer offers precision quality control to enable default tracking early in the process. The Photon etc’s analyzer thus offers potential for analysing PV cells both in the production line and in the laboratory, thereby significantly increasing yield.