Masdar will eliminate the use of greenhouse gas nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), which has a global warming potential 17,200 times that of CO2, from its thin-film production facility in Ichtershausen, near Erfurt, Germany.
Ian Travis, manager of on-site fluorine business at Linde, said: “Fluorine cleaning is a win-win choice for thin-film solar cell manufacturers.In addition to removing any risk of unabated emissions, Fluorine reduces non-productive cleaning time and improves throughput. This is a rare situation where the interests of environmental responsibility and profit are aligned. We are delighted to be able to supply an immediate improvement on current technology to Masdar, as proof of Linde’s commitment to deliver efficiency through gas technology.”
Matthias Peschke, director of operations and engineering at Masdar, said: “Our objectives are to deliver innovative, thin-film technology with an optimal cost-performance ratio. Using sustainable materials, hence significantly lowering the emissions in the production process, is another important differentiator for Masdar PV in a highly competitive market. Linde’s efforts in offering efficient and safe on-site fluorine technology to remove NF3 from our process are commendable.”
Linde has made efforts to achieve the lowest carbon footprint possible for dry chamber cleaning in thin-film PV, TFT-LCD and semiconductor manufacturing by installing more than 30 Generation-F on-site fluorine generators in the electronics industry.
