4JET’s MPCT has been specially designed for high speed CIGS solar thin-film module production. The tool combines 3 processes within one system providing highest throughput and reliability with a minimum footprint. The combination of laser edge deletion (LED), molybdenum exposure (MEX) and glass drilling (GDS) in one system reduces the requirements for glass transporting and alignment of the thin-film modules and thus provides the best combination of robustness and throughput minimizing capital investment and operation costs.

Our MPCT is designed for 24/7 inline production of CIGS-based thin-film solar modules with a minimum of maintenance requirements.  It achieves the highest throughput in its class.

The development of the MPCT system is based on 4JET's many years of experience in the construction of individual machines using the processes of laser edge deletion (LED), molybdenum exposure and laser glass drilling. Within the MPCT, an optimized process sequence consisting of combined processing for laser edge deletion and molybdenum exposure guarantees high-quality solar modules at lowest cycle times. The substrate is processed within three internal stations. Parallel transport from one station to the next ensures a minimum of non-productive time and laser idle time, which is essential for highest throughput.

Laser glass drilling of two through-holes for the junction box connection is carried out in parallel to the other processes. The substrates are fixed on vacuum bars during processing to compensate for any warpage of the modules, again providing highest quality with a robust design and a large process window for best product quality. The system’s robustness, vibration dampening capability and stability, especially in terms of long-term accuracy is achieved by the optimized design. This enables and guarantees a sustainable production of long-life-time CIGS thin-film solar modules.