29.04.2009

BudaSolar establishes new research facility

BudaSolar kicked-off its project for the construction of its research facility. The new laboratory will enable the company to develop further the existing know-how of Kraft Inc. (recently merged with BudaSolar) in the field of Si solar cell processes and equipment. BudaSolar is the principal investigator of the Hungarian project entitled „Advanced environment friendly thin film solar cells” (TFSOLAR2).

The research consortium is formed together with Optilab Ltd., the Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science – MFA and the Research Institute for Nuclear Research – ATOMKI. The project is heavily supported by both the Hungarian National Office for Research and Technology via contract TECH_08_A4/2-20080176 and by Hungarian research institutions in form of a research co-operation. The project leader, Dr. István Krafcsik CTO is regarded as the pioneering founder of the Hungarian thin film solar industry, whose activity was acknowledged by the Technology Innovation Award of the National Office for Research and Technology for the development of “Solar cell manufacturing equipment and complete processing line” in 2006.

“Our new research project and the establishment of the related research facility is a major step and represents strong commitment of all involved parties” said Dr. Csaba Dücső, the Head of Technology Development by BudaSolar. “By the realization of our goals BudaSolar and Hungary will become one of the leading innovators in the thin film segment of the global photovoltaic industry.”

When completing the project, BudaSolar will be able to maximize the efficiency of the a-Si modules in short term and elaborate the processing technology of the high efficiency micromorph solar modules by the end of the three year project.

“Having our laboratory in a campus shared with several physical research institutes, the conditions for research work are ideal. We believe that the significant governmental support as well as the strong research consortium with participation of MFA is a guarantee for the successful completion of the project.” said Dr. István Krafcsik. “There’s no doubt that micromorph Si process featured by batch type PECVD will be competitive on the solar market due to its low production costs.

In connection to the new research facility, BudaSolar also participates in another Hungarian R&D project entitled “Development of metrology tools based on electrical and optical techniques for in-line and laboratory qualification of thin film solar cells” (PVMET_08). The 4 year project is supported by the Hungarian National Office for Research and Technology via contract OM-00159/2008. Further members of the consortium, led by Semilab Inc., are the Research Institute for Technical Physics and Materials Science – MFA and the Department of Elelectronic Devices of the Budapest Technical University. The novel methods that have proven their importance in the crystalline Si characterization as a result of the joint efforts of the members of the consortium will open the way to implement important techniques for the thin film PV production including further possibilities of in-line process monitoring.