Renewable energies
Nexwafe
NexWafe uses Kerfless Wafer Technology for the production of monocrystalline silicon wafers. The resultant EpiWafers are a drop-in replacement for Cz wafers in solar cell production.
Commercialised by
Nexwafe
Freiburg im Brisgau
Hans Bunte Strasse 19, 79108 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Sustainable developement goals
Green solar wafers to power the energy transition
High quality mono-crystalline n-type silicon wafer. Full-square instead of semi-square. Very low thickness variations. Very narrow resistivity distribution. Drop-in solution.
The need
Silicon wafers are the most expensive and energy intensive single component of a solar module. Current wafer manufacturing processes have a very limited cost reduction potential. Disruptive technologies are needed to bring costs and energy consumption down.
The solution
Conventional wafer production uses energy intensive processes such as polysilicon production from chlorosilane, ingot pulling and wire sawing. NexWafe bypasses these process steps by cloning silicon wafers; growing wafers directly from chlorosilane by epitaxy. In-line equipment has been developed to achieve high throughput in production. This disruptive approach to wafer manufacturing reduces energy consumption and GHG emissions in wafer production by 60%, and cuts production costs by half.
The value proposition
- Reduced power consumption and CO2 emission in wafer production.
- Cost savings.
- High solar cell efficiencies.