Ceramic finds solar panel use

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jun 30, 2008

Morgan Technical Ceramics is supplying Oerlikon Solar with high-purity ceramic bars used for lifting and stacking of glass panels in its thin-film deposition photovoltaic (PV) machine.

Morgan Technical Ceramics' (MTC's) semiconductor-grade 99% alumina ceramic has found a new application in the burgeoning solar panel industry.

The company is supplying Oerlikon Solar with high-purity ceramic bars used for lifting and stacking of glass panels in its thin-film deposition photovoltaic (PV) machine.

Ceramic is an alternative to stainless steel, which has a tendency to buckle and bend in very high temperatures.

Oerlikon uses ceramic bars in machines running at 200C because of its excellent thermal and chemical stability.

MTC's high-grade alumina is an ideal choice for the thin-film PV deposition process.

It does not react with the process gases to contaminate the work and its thermal stability allows it to be used at high temperatures.

"The manufacturing challenge is to produce a consistent flatness and parallelism over the 1.2m length of the bar", explains Yannick Galais, Commercial Manager, MTC Rugby.

"We have the capability to achieve flatness of less than 0.01mm and parallelism of less than 0.05mm, with a mirror polish finish".

Morgan Technical Ceramics designs and manufacturers a broad range of advanced, bespoke, engineered ceramic components, including various components for the solar industry including bars, pins and rollers.