“I have been in the PV business since 2002 when I started as sales manager for batch wet benches for etching and cleaning of wafers to generate solar cells. I experienced both boom and demise of the German solar cell market, I have helped to make the Chinese market to take off. My customers were always in the top league of cell efficiencies therefore the EXATEQ team is familiar with respective requirements.
After the foundation of EXATEQ in 2015 we grew on equipment for top end cell technologies and we managed to attract Meyer Burger with their HJT technology as a customer. We agreed to cooperate, they have grown their business utilizing our equipment and EXATEQ has grown its experience by the feedback and requirements of Meyer Burger. Hence there was no hesitation in joining the Pilatus project and supporting them in pushing technology forward.”
What was your original motivation to become a researcher/project manager?
“I was a researcher for some years after my PhD. I then moved to sales of wet chemical process equipment where I basically still am. It was in 2015 that I founded EXATEQ together with a colleague where I took the position of managing director. Therefore, I am not just managing projects but actually the company.”
What is your (main) research area today?
“It is all about wet processing equipment. We are constantly working on improving our products and on finding solutions for customers.”
What is the main focus of your team in PILATUS?
“Once again, our focus is creating a wet bench for metal etching of IBC cells in their final stage. Due to the project requirements, it is a new platform = product for us at EXATEQ which must include a lot of process flexibility which makes the equipment complex and a challenge to put everything inside.”
From all your activities within the project, what are you the most proud of/keen to share with the public?
“That we will have completed a tremendous range of products for EXATEQ right from very small lab wet benches to really big production systems. We do not do standard systems as such, everything is customized based on standardized platforms.”
How do you expect the PILATUS results will impact your organisation and the PV sector in Europe?
“There will a virtually no requirement we will not have a product/platform for. This means we will be able to offer very reasonable lead times and provide the customer with the most suitable product.”
This project has received funding from the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme under grant number 101084046. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
