I’ve made it through my first week of work without breaking anything expensive, so I consider it to be a success. I’m working at a company called Astronergy, which is the solar division of Chint Group (an electrical and power generation giant in China). The company is only three years old, so a lot of the PV products are under development or are just recently ramping up. Here’s some pictures of the fabrication facility where I work:
campus 2 astronergy plant
campus 2 lobby
my office... after a bit of arguing they reluctantly agreed to let me keep my macbook
The company is considered a “start-up” due to its youthful age, but this term is very different from the loosely defined one I’ve grown accustomed to in Silicon Valley (Astronergy employs hundreds of people). Solar cell production relies on economies-of-scale; the larger the factory the more likely you’ll be able to manufacture at competitive prices. The company specializes in a variety of Silicon solar panels, ranging from thin-film tandem “micromorph” a-Si/µc-Si cells to conventional polycrystalline and monocrystalline Si modules:
monocrystalline Si cells
polycrystalline Si cells
tandem a-Si/µc-Si cells
They also plan to manufacture a line of translucent tandem Si modules, which are really cool. These are for potential use in window or skylight applications. If you look at the close-up image, the absorber layer isn’t actually transparent, it’s just arranged in very thin strips:
unframed translucent a-Si module
translucent module close-up
My technical title is “Process Engineer” for the thin-film Si division, which means I’m supposed to help iron out kinks in the manufacturing line and see what can be done to optimize the process. My first week mostly consisted of getting to know my co-workers and figuring out the factory layout, as well as the equipment. Unfortunately I can’t take pictures inside the super-secret factory from fear of being shot by executive order of Hu Jintao, but suffice to say that it is very cool. The entire fab is a ISO 14644 Class 7 Cleanroom, so I have to put on a gown, hair net, face mask, shoe coverings, and gloves and then go through an blowdry room before I can even enter:
the latest in cleanroom fashion
I’m accustomed to making small samples in a lab and then running them through various tests, so walking through the fab for the first time was a really eye-opening experience. Nothing is touched by hand, and the PECVD and laser-scribing machines are the size of large bedrooms. In contrast to a laboratory setting where performance is paramount, here at the factory the overriding factor is quality control. It’s clear that I still have everything to learn about how solar cells are made in the real world!
- Pu Anren
Why weren’t they letting you keep your Macbook?
“security” reasons… clearly not so stringent though
Those translucent cells are badass!
You look fat in your cleanroom gown picture
the cells look like artwork, and yes you’re looking a bit pudgy there. do they have a company gym?
sweet… keep it coming
This blog is better:
http://kingsofcatalonia.blogspot.com
haha Good Luck!
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