Laser assisted sealing and packaging technology for perovskite photovoltaic modules

Pixel Voltaic, a subsidiary of the University of Porto, has launched a laser system for sealing glass and fiberglass perovskite photovoltaic modules, with a maximum size of 30 cm x 30 cm. The company's technology roadmap is to increase production capacity to accommodate larger equipment areas of up to 1 square meter and modify processes to operate within a roll to roll production line.

Pixel Voltage is a derivative company of the University of Porto in Portugal, which has developed a new laser assisted sealing and packaging technology suitable for sealing individual devices and panels of perovskite solar and dye sensitized solar cells, with an area of up to 30 cm x 30 cm.

"Through our new process, we can use our laser assisted glass to glass or glass to metal packaging technology to seal various photovoltaic device shapes, circular or square," Tiago Lagarteira, CEO of Pixel Voltaic, told Photovoltaic Magazine.

According to Lagarteira, the company's first system was a batch processing process that could seal 70 to 80 devices per day. It can be ordered directly from the company.

The company's technology roadmap is to increase production capacity to accommodate larger equipment areas of up to 1 square meter and modify processes to operate within a roll to roll production line.

The most direct business opportunity is to provide equipment for an increasing number of indoor photovoltaic module manufacturers and research institutions. "Perovskite and dye sensitized solar technology have great potential as battery expanders for IoT devices, providing over 30% power conversion efficiency indoors," said Lagarteira.

In addition, Pixel Voltage also provides sealing services for companies or groups that do not have their own equipment.

The company's reference list includes Tor Vergata's hybrid and organic solar energy center at the University of Rome, G-Lyte from French DSSC, SOLRA-PV from perovskite experts, and derivative products from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

According to reports, this type of bonding is carried out at temperatures ranging from 65 ° C to 140 ° C, making it suitable for perovskite batteries. According to Lagarteira, compared to typical hot compression methods, the processing temperature is much lower, which requires a temperature of 390 ° C.

"It changes the game rules for protecting the stability of sensitive photovoltaic materials. Glass frit bonding is superior to alternatives to thermoplastic and adhesive seals, which may not necessarily be sealed. This seal complies with the helium leak test defined in the military and aerospace electronic system standard MIL-STD-883H," Lagarteira said. "The MIL-STD-883H standard defines packaging as sealed when the helium leak rate is less than 5 x 10-8 atm cm3 s-1."

The dimensions of Pixel Voltaic's Laserbox system are 2000 mm x 1000 mm x 2000 mm, with a power consumption of 5000 W. Its laser source is continuous wave neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet, with a power of 100 W. The optional option is a controllable sealed atmospheric chamber with dry air, nitrogen or argon gas. The window frame of this device is detachable and can be preheated. Its height can be adjusted through the built-in robot system.

The system uses two cameras, particularly a high-resolution pan tilt zoom camera with optical zoom function, to record videos of the sealing process, control and monitor the infrared laser melting process, and a two-dimensional machine vision camera. The latter comes from German electronics manufacturer SICK AG. It uses pattern recognition to automatically arrange laser beams.

Source: Laser Net