Abstract
Constant technological advances has led to accelerated diminishing of Earth’s resources. Due to hindered energy provision from limited resources, development of renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydro are critical to maintain a sustainable environment for further generations. Solar power through silicon wafers stand out from a low production cost standpoint, and as a result has become the mainstream source of renewable energy. Efficiency of energy conversion has also been highlighted as the key to continuous success of solar energy. Throughout 2008-2014, efficiency had been rising at an annual rate of 1%, nonetheless this figure had decreased to 0.05-0.1% in recent years due to lack of technological advancements. This study focuses on efficiency improvement of 0.116 - 0.137% through ”double printing”, as well as a new print squeegee design which reduces silver usage and hence savings on production cost. These developments aim to further increase the competitiveness of solar cell technology. The various combinations of double printing concepts will be described in detail, along with methods involved in printing alignment with high degree of accuracy and calibration techniques. The design concepts of the new squeegee are also explained, and controls of screen specifications are discussed. This thesis illustrates the metholodologies involved in double printing technology with the new squeegee, which is capable of achieving higher efficiency and lower cost.