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Machine Vision for Solar Cell Inspection
Conference proceeding   Open access

Machine Vision for Solar Cell Inspection

Michael Mauk, Richard Chiou and Chetana Bayas
Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers
26 Jun 2016
url
https://doi.org/10.18260/p.27325View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Open

Abstract

Antireflection coatings Automation Belt conveyors Castings CCD cameras Cost analysis Crystal defects Electric contacts Grain size Infrared analysis Infrared cameras Inspection Machine vision Manufacturing engineering Materials science Metallurgy Photovoltaic cells Process controls Quality assurance Quality control Robotics Screen printing Solar cells Texture Thin films Vision systems
Solar cells in various stages of production, e.g., silicon feedstock; polycrystalline castings; single and multicrystalline wafers and sheets; and solar cells with texture etching, screen-printed metal contacts, and anti-reflection coatings offer instructive examples for using machine vision for quality assurance, materials and device characterization, and solar cell diagnostics. The solar cell proves an effective ‘vehicle’ for demonstrating and exploring various aspects of materials science (grain size and texture and other features of microstructure, optical manifestations of defects, metallurgy of electrical contacts), thin-film technology (screen printing, coatings, texturization, optics, surface metrology, rational cleaning methods, Further, the solar cell fabrication processes are typically automated with conveyer belts and robotics, offering many industrially-relevant opportunities for applying machine vision techniques for inspection, process control, and product sorting. In this paper, we describe various aspects of image capture, processing, and analysis using low-cost CCD cameras and thermal infrared cameras as instructive case studies in materials science, thin film technology, and machine vision for quality assurance.

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