Contributing to the Development of Cadmium Telluride  Solar Cells

Dr. Bettina Sp?th

Joined CNBM in 2010

Vice Director of the R&D Department at CTF Solar

Dr. Bettina Sp?th's distinguished career in science began in Darmstadt, Germany. Growing up in  the picturesque town of Bensheim in Hessia,  she developed a keen interest in science, which propelled her into the field of material science. Her academic journey started at Darmstadt University,  where she honed her expertise in semiconductors,  guided by Professor Jaegermann. 

Dr. Sp?th's impressive understanding of material science led to her completing her diploma thesis  on CdTe thin film solar cells within Professor  Jaegermann's "surface science" research group. She then continued her research under the professor's mentorship, pursuing a PhD focused on the interface and back contact properties of CdTe solar cells. 

Post-PhD, Dr. Sp?th moved to Dresden, Germany,  to apply her material science expertise in the semiconductor industry. Her primary responsibility  was to improve and adapt plasma etching  processes for the production of memory chips. 

Her interest in solar technology drew her back to the solar industry, where she worked on silicon solar cell characterization. Her significant contributions in this field led to her shifting focus back to CdTe (Cadmium Telluride) solar cells, a technology gaining attention  for its high conversion efficiency and potential  for mass production. In 2010, Dr. Sp?th joined Roth&Rau/CTF Solar, where she leveraged her understanding of materials and semiconductor technology to drive advancements in CdTe solar  cell technologies. 

At CTF Solar, she took on a significant role,  utilizing her knowledge and experience to drive  advancements in CdTe solar cell technologies.  During this time, she established a close  cooperation with the German Fraunhofer Institute  FEP.  

She set up a research and development department  in CTF Solar. This department, initially consisting  of 3-4 scientists, laid the foundation for today's  20-person research and development department. Initially located at Fraunhofer FEP/Dresden,  Germany, the entire front-end process chain was  developed. CTF Solar specified and developed  several pilot tools to enable the development on processes to increase the solar cell efficiency.  

First, the heart tool CSS coating was put into  operation. A chemical department was established  and the latest chemical processes were tested. Dr Bettina Sp?th was mainly responsible for the sputtering processes and metrology tools.  

At that time, Dr Bettina Sp?th was able to drive  forward the development of the metallic copper-free  back contact. The first copper-free solar cells with  an efficiency of >13% were developed. Several tools  from the former laboratory in Kelkheim, Germany  were transferred to Dresden and put into operation.  

In 2011, CTIEC, part of the Chinese CNBM Group, acquired CTF Solar. The research and development department was growing and therefor moved to  a bigger laboratory in the north of Dresden. The laboratory covered an area of 300 m?. Together  with her colleagues, Dr. Bettina Sp?th organized  the transfer of the tools to the new location. New tools were specified and purchased and a complete  upgraded laboratory was established.

Dr. Bettina Sp?th contributed in several founded projects in 2012-2015 and with this help, the  CdTe conversion efficiency was rised to >15%.  The laboratory processes were transferred into  specifications of production tools. As a scientist  and process engineer, Dr. Bettina Sp?th supported  the specification of the sputtering, lasering and annealing machines as well the metrology tools.  This included a close interaction with suppliers as  well as several acceptance procedures at several  location. 

The results of the developments and investigations  of Dr. Bettina Sp?th and her colleagues were  transferred onto the first production line of CTF Solar  in China in 2016. In recognition of her expertise, Dr. Sp?th was promoted to the role of Vice Director in  the R&D department of CTF Solar in 2017. She led  a team of 20 employees, shaping the company's research agenda and fostering an innovative environment. Her leadership skills and scientific  acumen were instrumental in driving the company's  success and furthering its reputation. From 2016- 2022 Dr. Bettina led two funded projects, each with  a duration of 3 years and a funding of € 1.5 million.  In 2020 CTF Solar moved again to a new location,  covering an area of 1000 m?.

Since 2016, the efficiency of CdTe solar cells has  been improved from 17.8% to the remarkable value  of 20.85% and that of 10*10 cm? modules from  14.4% to 18.3% in the R&D department of CTF  Solar. 

After Dr. Sp?th visited the Handan production line  in April, she fully supported introducing the ZnTe  process. With the technical support from CTF  Solar team, the efficiency of CdTe thin film solar  module reached 17%. Dr. Sp?th highly commended  the hard work of HDN team. With the success of  this cooperation, she has full confidence that we  together can meet all challenges in the future. She believes that the prospect of CdTe solar cells market will be broader through everyone's efforts.

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Generating Creative Ideas in Cultural Fusion 

Dr. Jens Heinrich

Joined CNBM in 2016

Director od Technology Development of CTF Solar

In 1990, Jens Heinrich started studies in chemistry  at Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany.  After getting a master¡¯s degree in chemistry, he  continued to get a PhD in physical chemistry, focusing on the studies of chemical vapor  deposition. Starting his career in the semiconductor  industry as a manufacturing and process engineer,  he then assumed several other roles including a process integration engineer and a technology  transfer engineer in companies like AMD/ Global  Foundries and Intel, gaining technical and cultural  experiences in different countries.

In early 2016, Dr. Heinrich decided to move into a different technology area with the aim of learning  new technologies and providing support to the new company. He joined CTF Solar as a process transfer manager with the aim of applying his experience and skillsets to a different industry. He described  the start at CTF Solar as really exciting, developing  a new team together with head of the process  engineering department ¨C and designing a factory  for large scale PV modules based on CTF¡¯s CdTe  technology ¨C almost from scratch. Together with  the colleagues from CTIEC, they started the project  of the 1st CdTe factory for large size modules (>  1m? ¨C almost 2m?) in Chengdu, southwest China¡¯s  Sichuan Province. His 1st trip to China for CTF Solar was totally different from his previous experiences.  He was impressed by a very warm welcome and  great hospitality he received, as well as open  discussions about the best way to achieve the shared goals of the project. Of course, it was not  all easy and very soon the team realized that the  cultural differences between Germany and China  could cause problems and misunderstandings, but  everyone was open minded and willing to learn and  adapt. In a very short time, the goals were set to  try to combine the strengths of both cultures for the  success of the project. Soon after the start of the  construction, the 1st project milestone (equipment  design reviews, initial acceptance tests) was  passed and by the end of the year 2016, the 1st  part of the production line had been moved into  the factory building, while construction work still in progress. Together with most of the CTF Solar¡¯s  engineers, scientists and managers, Dr. Heinrich  travelled to Chengdu multiple times, supervising  the equipment¡¯s installation and commissioning, solving problems onsite, ensuring the support and  collaboration from the different suppliers. Finally, in  August 2017, less than one year after completing  the design review, the main deposition equipment  (CSS ¨C a co-development between CTF Solar and equipment supplier) successfully completed trial operation and produced the first functional midule on Agust 24, 2017. It was the 1st CdTe module for  CNBM group and the 1st large size thin film module worldwide. After the successful demonstration of the  CdTe technologies capabilities on manufacturing  scale, more CdTe factory projects for CTIEC and CTF  Solar have been launched.

In 2018, Dr. Heinrich got promoted to deputy head  of process engineering. His focus and work tasks  shifted more to building and developing the CTF  Solar¡¯s engineering team, implementing technology  changes as well as ramping up and improving  current and future factory projects. These new  challenges required an even deeper collaboration  with the colleagues and partners from CTIEC and  with the CNBM factory operations teams. Here,  support from Chinese colleagues within CTF Solar,  especially from the CTIEC management, project team  and the engineering team played an important role in  his success.

2020 and the following years were packed with challenges for each team member of CTF Solar  and for Dr Heinrich himself. Despite the impact of  COVID-19 to the personal life, especially the CTF  factory project business was affected. Most of the  projects got delayed due to this pandemic situation  and CTF Solar had to adapt to the new situation  where they could not go to the sites. In this process,  the benefits of a multinational team became obvious. 

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Heinrich and his team persevered and adapted to  new circumstances, receiving significant support  from CTIEC and CNBM colleagues. As one of the two non-Chinese speaking CTF employees, he  visited the factory in China twice during COVID-19  outbreak. This crisis highlighted the strength of their  multinational team. Now technical development of factory sites has been continuously improved and  enhanced, and the team and most of the projects  are back on track. With the support from Mr. Yin,  CTF Solar started to build a team of engineers within  China and introduced new process and equipment to  the Handan factory, which will dramatically improve  the performance of the PV modules with respect to  efficiency and stability.

Through the efforts of the HDOM, CTIEC and CTF teams, the heromodule with photoelectric conversion efficiency of more than 330W were produced, which  is 10% more efficient than the previous record, and  15% more effienct than the current product average. This major achievement makes all the CTF Solar  colleagues proud of being a member of this CNBM  team.

In early 2023, Dr. Heinrich became a member of the  CTF Solar Management board, allowing him to have  a substantial say on CTF's further development and business, and contribute to CTIEC's and CNBM's success. He now looks forward to future challenges  and is confident in the team's ability to continue  innovating and contributing to the rapidly growing  market of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV).