Meyer Burger Technology Ltd announced that it has successfully concluded a strategic Preferred Supplier contract for the delivery and installation of a fully integrated high efficiency SmartWire Connection Technology (SWCT) line in Europe.

Following the announcement of their plans to jointly open a module production factory in Bydgoszcz Technology Park in Poland, Hanplast and FreeVolt concluded a contract with Meyer Burger for a SmartWire Connection Technology line with an annual production capacity of 80MW. Delivery of the systems by Meyer Burger as well as the start of production by the customers is planned for the first half of 2015.

SmartWire Connection Technology

In comparison to conventional busbar cell technology, Meyer Burger’s SmartWire Connection technology delivers an increased energy benefit of up to 7% for solar cells following encapsulation in the module. This is made possible by a dense contact matrix of up to 2,660 contact points on the solar cell. In contrast to standard busbar technology where each finger routes the electrical currents to a busbar, the SWCT connects the all fingers together directly on the surface of the cell. The fingers are electrically connected in a close grid which even prevents micro cracks and cell breaks from negatively impacting cell performance. The result is an increased yield of around 1% in module production.

Through the elimination of the busbars in SmartWire Connection technology, up to 80% less silver is used in the production of the cells. The significantly reduced use of silver in combination with the thinner fingers on the cells results in a reduction in production costs of as much as 7 USD per module. SWCT is compatible to all silicon cell technologies and can also be used in the next generation of finger metallisation technology.