METHODS AND APPARATUS TO CONTROL ZONE TEMPERATURES OF A SOLAR CELL PRODUCTION SYSTEM

Methods and apparatus to control zone temperatures in a solar cell production system are disclosed. An example furnace to fire photovoltaic cells includes: a plurality of zones comprising firing elements configured to fire a metallization layer of photovoltaic cells by heating the photovoltaic cells in the zones; one or more belts configured to transport photovoltaic cells through a sequence of the plurality of zones; a user interface comprising one or more input devices; and control circuitry configured to: control the firing elements for the plurality of zones; and modify a configuration oftwo or more of the plurality of zones based on input received via the input device. 公开了在太阳能电池生产系统中控制区域温度的方法和设备。用于烧制光伏电池的示例性炉包括：多个区，其包含被配置为通过加热该区中的光伏电池来烧制光伏电池的金属化层的烧制元件；一个或多个带，其被配置为运输光伏电池穿过该多个区域的序列；包含一个或多个输入装置的用户界面；以及控制电路系统，其被配置为：控制用于该多个区域的点火元件；以及基于经由输入装置接收的输入来修改多个区域中的两者或多者的配置。