ASM Alternative Energy Wafer Inspection Technology Wins Prestigious Terawatt Diamond Award

At the recent SNEC PV Power Expo, ASM Alternative Energy (ASM AE) again confirmed its technology leadership as the company took home another Terawatt Diamond Award.  Winning this year for its SolarWIS LITE solar inspection system, the Terawatt Diamond Award is a distinction that recognizes the top 10 highlights of the SNEC event and is selected by the show organizers.    Last year, ASM AE won the Terawatt Diamond Award for its Eclipse metallization platform.

“Consistently earning industry accolades has nothing to do with happenstance,” says ASM AE VP of Business Development, Brian Lau, noting the company’s long history of award-winning technologies.  “It has everything to do with ingenuity, process insight and a commitment to developing efficiency-enhancing solar solutions that will enable affordable, sustainable alternative energy systems.  We thank the judging committee for recognizing the market significance of ASM AE’s SolarWIS LITE and selecting it for the Terawatt Diamond Award.”

ASM AE’s SolarWIS LITE is an entry-level wafer sorter equipped with advanced 3D inspection technology that verifies wafer thickness, total thickness variation (TTV), saw marks, bow and warp.  Unlike traditional laser or capacitive sensing systems used for thickness inspection, SolarWIS LITE inspects the entire wafer – as opposed to three lines -- to determine the true thickness distribution characteristics.  The more thorough inspection approach of SolarWIS LITE delivers value by lowering cell breakage yield loss, as it is able to identify out of specification thin areas on the wafer not easily found by conventional techniques.  

SolarWIS LITE can be upgraded to incorporate capabilities to detect µCracks, stains, side chips, geometry, resistivity and lifetime measurements. Not only is SolarWIS LITE functionally scalable, its sorting bin can also be easily expanded from 6+1 to 12+1. Each system equipped as standard with a stack loading capacity of 800 wafers, at a peak of 3600 wafers inspected and sorted. 

“SolarWIS LITE is a sound investment for solar cell manufacturers of any size,” comments Joe Tan, ASM Alternative Energy Senior Sales Manager, who accepted the award on the company’s behalf.  “The technology lowers the initial capital expenditure barrier, safeguards against obsolescence and allows a seamless transition to fully automated inspection at a pace that is suited to individual operational and financial requirements.” 

ASM Alternative Energy
www.asm-ae.com

ASM Pacific Technology Limited (ASMPT)
www.asmpacific.com