EpiNex® wafers produced by direct Gas-to-Wafer technology offer several advantages compared to conventional CZ grown wafers. EpiNex® wafers are fully compatible drop-in replacements for cells produced by today’s high-efficiency HJT, TopCon and IBC manufacturing processes.
Advantages of EpiNex® wafers compared to conventional CZ wafers
- Lower oxygen content than CZ wafers and therefore no drop of cell efficiency due to oxygen
- Narrow wafer-to-wafer resistivity distribution due to doping directly from the gas phase, no segregation in the melt
- No saw damage allows for skipping the etching step
Configurable Wafer Thickness
NexWafe's multi-patented proprietary production process allows the manufacture of ultra-thin EpiNex® wafers down to 50 µm in thickness - roughly the diameter of a human hair, and less than one-third the thickness produced by conventional processes.
Flexible wafer size
NexWafe's manufacturing process produces EpiNex® wafers in all sizes used in the industry – up to G12 or even larger
Low carbon footprint
Preparing for a low carbon future, NexWafe’s production process enables up to a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. This means more than 3.2 million tons of carbon dioxide is saved for every 15GW of wafers produced annually.
The future value of carbon credits is predicted to reach $60 per ton of avoided emissions. Looking ahead, a large manufacturing facility using EpiNex® technology could generate more than $360M a year in carbon credits.
Reducing silicon waste
NexWafe’s innovative silicon epitaxial manufacturing technique transforms starting materials directly to finished product. Wasteful intermediate steps, such as shaping and sawing ingots, are completely eliminated.
Conventional methods recycle or discard 45% of silicon. Using our proprietary one-step process offers game-changing efficiency, with up to 95% of silicon preserved in the final product.
Flexible Wafer Thickness
Ultra-flexible wafers
Leveraging the flexibility of epitaxy for ultra-high efficiency multijunction solar cells, NexWafe is prepared to provide wafer solutions for the future of photovoltaics.
Today and tomorrow
Extending the efficiency of solar cells
Within the next decade EpiNex® wafers are on track to perfect tandem junction devices with efficiencies to 30%
Tandem junction devices benefit from the improved resistivity, quality and repeatability provided by the EpiNex® process