Furnace for Firing Operation in Silicon Solar Cell Manufacturing

The HSH series furnace is a specially designed infrared furnace that caters to the needs of the photovoltaic metallization firing requirements. The heating in this furnace is achieved with the help of short wave infrared lamp heaters. The fast response of the IR lamps allow for quick heating. The furnace is rated at 1000 oC and can operate very well in the 750-800 oC range required for sintering of front contact metallization. The belt width comes in various standard sizes, including, 250mm, 300mm and 380mm to match with the requirements of the wafer size. Cooling can be achieved through forced air, as well as, water per requirement. The presence of a muffle helps to control the atmosphere within the furnace, as well as, prevent the external atmosphere from entering. In short, the muffle design helps maintain a cleaner furnace atmosphere. As a standard feature, this furnace is equipped with a steel brush and helps in the cleaning process of the conveyor belt. Ultrasonic belt cleaning is available as an extra option as well.

A microprocessor based PID controller controls the furnace. Type K thermo-couples are used for determining the zone temperatures. Controls are located on the right hand side and can be viewed from the entrance of the furnace. The central processing unit (CPU) is mounted under the exit table. The furnace is controlled by a microprocessor based controller system and the CPU is loaded with a Windows operating system that allows for easy computing. The computer system comes with a pre-installed program for controlling the Confurnace parameters including the belt speed and the zone temperatures. Temperature profiles can be stored and retrieved for future purposes. Thermocouple ports are located at the entrance table for connecting the profiling thermocouple directly to the microprocessor. This feature allows the monitoring and recording of the actual temperature experienced by the part. Software is also provided with the computer to capture, display, printout and store the furnace profile. The furnace is equipped with a redundant overheat safety protection system which incorporates an additional type “K” thermocouple in the center of each controlled zone and the multi-loop alarm.

For more information and specifications go to http://www.beltfurnaces.com/HSHsolar.html

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