Nines Photovoltaics was established in 2010, with a dedicated team that is focused on bringing new innovative process technology, machinery and equipment to the international Photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing industry. The company is based in Dublin, Ireland.
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Nines Photovoltaic is a sister company of Nines Engineering, an Irish company set up in 2007, and built up based on the founders experience, knowledge and contacts within the Semiconductor manufacturing industry. In 2009 the management team identified opportunities in the Photovoltaic (PV) space in which they could bring their extensive Semiconductor industry knowledge, and add value to the sector by developing novel processing technologies. Nines Engineering continues to trade and specialises in process and equipment services to OEMs, academic institutes and device manufacturing end-users.
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Nines are offering a range of processing tools with the patented ADE (Atmospheric Dry Etch) technology at the core. This technology offers a range of benefits to the cell manufacturer and an efficient texturing method for diamond wire cut multi-crystalline mc-Si wafers.
ADE-100
The 9s-ADE100 is a small footprint, flexible process development platform. It is built around a single ADE reactor. This reactor is similar to the one used in the industrial version of the tool, greatly facilitating the transition from laboratory development to production.
The tool can be configured as single wafer process or upgraded with a conveyor and automated loader in order to provide higher throughput. It is user friendly, and can be started very quickly, with typical texturing process time duration of less than a minute.
R&D/Pilot Production
ADE-6000
The second tool on the roadmap is a 200MW offering; the 9sADE6000. This product is aimed at Industrial Cell manufacturers for capacity production. The ADE6000 is a Multi-reactor version of the 9sADE100, meaning that new processes developed on the ADE100 can be easily transferred to the ADE6000 with Zero process change risk.
The industrial tools incorporate the ADE technology in order to deliver throughput values beyond the current industry roadmap. The tool is designed using multiple parallel lines of processing and atmospheric pressure chemical reactors similar to the one used in our development tool. The industrial process will be facilitated by the use of on-site generation of the etching gas, providing 100% concentration and delivering low cost of owner ship.
Industrial Cell Manufacturing