Lasers in Wafer-based PV Module Production

Photovoltaic plays an important role in sustainable energy supply scenarios of the next decades. The photovoltaic industry has experienced strong growth in the 21st century and is expected to continue its progress (Figure 1). In 2009, waferbased module technology made up for more than 80 percent of the global PV market; the rest is shared among various thin film technologies. This article provides an overview of laser production technology used for wafer‐based photovoltaic module production.