Merck KGaA Receives Solar Industry Award 2013

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, received the Solar Industry Award 2013 for its isishape SolarEtch structuring pastes. The company achieved first place in the category, PV Materials Enabling Award. The award was granted during the 2013 European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC), which was held Oct. 1-3 in Paris, France.

isishape SolarEtch are printable etching pastes capable of selectively etching antireflective coatings and passivation layers (e.g. SiO2, AlOx) on solar cells as well as on transparent conductive materials (e.g. TCO-transparent, conductive oxides). The simplified structuring process uses standard equipment, has low material consumption and leads to efficiency increases in modern mono- and polycrystalline silicon solar cells.

“This award recognizes our many years of development work on an isishape concept that improves the production of highly efficient solar cells and gives our customers a technological edge,” said Hans-Jürgen Lemp, head of structuring solutions within the Performance Materials division of Merck. “With isishape, we offer our partners a unique, comprehensive platform for the manufacture of the solar cell technologies of today and tomorrow.”

The Solar Industry Award is granted annually by International Solar, an internationally published trade journal on solar technologies.