In the race to improve photovoltaic devices, the CEA has been working for several years on the development of silicon heterojunction cells, produced on a pilot line located at the INES site. Its researchers have developed a characterization method based on the analysis of point defects on silicon wafers generated during all wafer handling, whether during transport between the various process steps, but especially during handling inside equipment by automated systems (robot, grippers, belts, suction cups). This method uses the analysis of images produced by electroluminescence and/or photoluminescence and makes it possible to extract a defect indicator for each cell. This indicator is then linked to the photovoltaic performance of the cells.
The Cell-LumTool software allows correlating defectiveness and yield, which will be always more strategic for all technologies aiming at excellence and high performance. Today, it is a patented R&D tool specific to the CEA, which helps to understand the yield losses on its pilot line. Tomorrow, it can be deployed in production.
Cell-LumTool is designed to facilitate its deployment on any platform requiring luminescence image analysis: automation, MES, production equipment, online characterization tool etc. The current image processing time makes the tool already compatible with an industrial environment.