PV Cell Cleaning Process Line Start-up and Commissioning Manual

1.Preparation Work Before Commissioning

1.1 Equipment Sanitation

1.1.1 Tool Preparation

Dust-free cloth (4 packs per unit), Dust-free paper (2 packs per unit), Alcohol (3 bottles per unit), Disposable shoe covers (10 pairs per unit), Trolley-mounted vacuum cleaner, Stretch wrap, Weighing scale with measuring range above 30KG

1.1.2 Exterior Equipment Cleaning

- Moisten dust-free cloth with alcohol and wipe the top surface of the equipment thoroughly.

- Wear gloves and remove protective films from equipment covers, track guard plates and flow distribution plates.

- Remove protective films from doors, main equipment body and automated components.

1.1.3 Internal Equipment Cleaning

- Put on disposable shoe covers before entering the equipment cavity, then wipe the internal top surface with alcohol-dampened dust-free cloth.

- Wipe the inner side walls, exhaust ports and holes of the equipment with alcohol-soaked dust-free cloth.

- Wipe the top, bottom of mechanical arm crossbeams, gripper contact points and side walls in sequence.

- Clean tank lids, tank walls and tank bottoms one by one. During wiping, confirm the routing of circulation pipes (Loading port ↙↓ Unloading port) and bubbling pipes (Loading port ←→ Unloading port); check whether all joints are tightly fastened, pipelines are laid flat and free of damage.

1.1.4 Cleaning of Automated Equipment Components

Wipe the loading/unloading stations, automatic grippers and turnover devices on the equipment with alcohol-wetted dust-free cloth.

2.Tank-Type Equipment

2.1 Equipment Inspection & Verification

2.1.1 DI Water Tank Pressure Test 

- Connect the DI water pipeline to the waste drain pipe through a corrugated hose for direct drainage. Use a beaker to monitor impurities in inlet water every half an hour. After confirming no impurities and stable resistivity of factory supplied water, connect the pipeline to the main equipment. The resistivity reading displayed on the equipment shall be ≥16.5MΩ·cm.

- After air supply to the main unit, disassemble the top air supply pipeline of the equipment and vent compressed air / nitrogen for 30 minutes. Wrap the air outlet with dust-free cloth to check whether the cleanliness of compressed air meets standards.

- Fill all tanks with DI water and start pump circulation to check for liquid leakage in tank pipelines. Keep the tanks fully filled with water and stand for 12 hours to ensure stable deformation of tanks under full load.

2.1.2 Tank Liquid Level Verification

- Inject DI water of specified weight with large plastic buckets.

- Add the specified amount of DI water in multiple batches to reach the target liquid level inside tanks, and record water addition times and corresponding liquid levels.

- Compare the actual liquid level, displayed liquid level and actual total water input volume. If inconsistent, calibrate liquid level markings and corresponding system coefficients. Repeat steps 1--3 after calibration until consistent, and record all data.

2.1.3 CDS System Verification

- Confirm that all CDS signals and functions operate normally.

- Manually fill the constant-pressure tank with chemical liquid to be tested and set the target chemical replenishment volume. Take out the outlet pipe of the constant-pressure tank and place it into an appropriate beaker. Click "Manual Refill" to dispense the set volume of liquid into the beaker. Compare the liquid volume collected in the beaker with the set refill volume (allowable error within 1%). If inconsistent, calibrate liquid level markings and system coefficients. Repeat steps 4--7 after calibration until consistent, and record all data.

- Calibrate cold and hot water flowmeters (allowable error within 5%) and clean the water tank of the hot water unit.

2.1.4 Software Inspection

- Check whether chemical refill records, formula display, liquid level display and equipment setting parameters are normal. Contact the manufacturer's software engineer for repair in case of any abnormality.

2.2 Tank Cleaning

2.2.1 Chemical Preparation

- Hydrogen peroxide (Texturing: 72L, Alkaline Polishing: 72L, RCA: 80L)

- Hydrochloric acid (Texturing: 72L, Alkaline Polishing: 72L, RCA: 80L)

- Acid cleaner (Texturing: 140L, Alkaline Polishing: 140L, RCA: 160L)

2.2.2 Tank Washing

- Initial water draining of equipment pipelines: After DI water resistivity reaches standard, circulate and drain water for each tank no less than four times to verify normal operation of inlet pipes and valves.

- Internal equipment flushing: Use a water gun to flush all internal areas except drying tanks.

- Wear complete labor protection supplies, add 500ml detergent to all liquid tanks for soaking. After tanks are full, manually add another 20L to make the water level cover overflow holes, then circulate and soak tanks for 12 hours.

- Drain all liquid tanks completely, fill with DI water and circulate for cleaning twice.

2.2.3 Tank Soaking

- Fill tanks with DI water, manually add 50L each of hydrochloric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid to rinse chemical pipelines, then drain liquid and clean tanks once.

- Fill tanks halfway with DI water before soaking. Wear full PPE and add H₂O₂ and HCl to each tank according to the soaking formula.

- Add DI water plus 8L hydrogen peroxide and 8L hydrochloric acid to all additive auxiliary tanks and overflow auxiliary tanks for soaking.

- Automatically fill all tanks loaded with corresponding chemicals, manually turn on circulation and bubbling functions to start tank soaking. Recheck liquid level changes and liquid leakage. After tanks are full, manually add another 20L to cover overflow holes, then soak for 24 hours.

- After soaking, drain all tank liquid, fill with DI water and circulate for cleaning twice, then manually add additives to rinse pipelines.

2.3 Process Commissioning

2.3.1 Formula Import

Import saturation basket formula and mass production formula separately.

2.3.2 Basket Saturation

- Circulate and clean baskets with basket cleaning formula for no less than 3 cycles (wipe baskets with alcohol for one round before saturation for mass production).

- After basket saturation, drain liquid and circulate for cleaning once. Wear full PPE and pour 10L acid cleaner into each tank for 2-hour soaking. After soaking, wash tanks twice and add chemicals during washing for pipeline rinsing.

- Prepare standard texturing / alkaline polishing production formula, evenly load 4 raw silicon wafers into test baskets and run normal texturing / alkaline polishing process. No basket marks or other appearance defects are allowed.

2.3.3 First Wafer Verification

- Load 120pcs qualified raw silicon wafers into verified baskets for texturing machine test. Weight loss and reflectance after texturing shall fall within control range with no visible appearance defects.

- Prepare standard BSG formula and load oxidized silicon wafers into BSG tank for full process. Take out wafers to test backside hydrophobicity and inspect appearance. Uniform backside hydrophobicity and zero visible defects are required.

- Prepare standard alkaline polishing formula and load 120pcs PSG-processed silicon wafers for alkaline polishing test. Weight loss, reflectance, appearance and PL images after polishing shall meet standards with no abnormalities.

- Prepare standard PSG and RCA formulas and load 120pcs annealed silicon wafers for RCA test. Weight loss, appearance and PL images after RCA treatment shall meet standards with no abnormalities.

3. Chain-Type Equipment

3.1 Key Differences from Tank-Type Equipment

3.1.1 Water Film Inspection

- Manually activate water film system and confirm all water nozzles are vertical and unclogged.

- Use cleaned test wafers to test water film uniformity and wafer hydrophilicity.

3.1.2 Roller Level & Air Knife Operation Inspection

- Use cleaned test wafers (1 piece per section) to test roller levelness.

- Verify flow rate and angle of air knives.

- Ensure silicon wafers do not shift, overlap or jam during conveying; no residual liquid remains on wafer surface after air knife blow-drying. Inform equipment maintenance staff if shifting, overlapping, jamming or liquid residue occurs.

3.2 Delivery Acceptance Standard

3.2.1 First Article Confirmation

Prepare standard BSG / PSG formula and load oxidized silicon wafers into PSG tank for full process. Take out wafers to test backside hydrophobicity and inspect appearance. Uniform backside hydrophobicity and zero visible defects are required.