Ingot Furnace
Grows ingots by vertical gradient directional solidification of silicon melt
The centrotherm SiTec Ingot Furnace is a key equipment for photovoltaic silicon ingot and wafer facilities. After melting the polysilicon chunks, the furnace grows silicon ingots by vertical gradient directional solidification.
The process consists of heating, melting, growing, annealing and cooling stages. Process temperature varies up to 1,550 ºC and process pressure ranges from 0.1 to 600 mbar.
The furnace contains a graphite hot zone located in a stainless steel vacuum chamber supported by a base frame. The hot zone contains three independent active thermal elements – side resistive heater, bottom resistive heater and bottom active cooling unit. The hot zone is designed in modular structure and optimized for Gen5 ingots and 450 kg basic charge weight.
The furnace has integrated water cooling, argon flow, vacuum pump, power supply, temperature monitoring and fully automated process control systems. The base frame is equipped with an electro-mechanical opening and closing mechanism with an integrated tool for top loading and unloading of the charged crucible. The centrotherm SiTec Ingot Furnace is delivered with a process know-how package.
- Fully integrated furnace package with power supply and automation system
- Low total energy consumption: < 10 kWh/kg of ingot
- Low process cycle time: < 60 h with an uptime > 92 %
- High productivity: > 60 metric t/a or 7.5 MWp/a
- Easy process control by PLC: Siemens S7/PCS7
- Final safety barrier due to bottom graphite shield
- Charge weight from 450 kg up to 600 kg
- Delivered with process know-how package
Note: centrotherm photovoltaics AG reserves the right to make changes in the product specifications at any time and without notice.
