VERTICAL INTERATION
Znshine group has successfully developed into a leader in the industry based on its strong vertically integrated business model, producing its own ingots, wafers, cells and modules in-house. The control and efficiency achieved from this integrated value chain helps to continuously improve the production process as well as ensure high quality and cost-effective products to our customers.
The crystalline silicon-based PV manufacturing value chain starts with the processing of quartz sand to produce metallurgical-grade silicon. This material is further purified to semiconductor-grade or solar-grade polysilicon feedstock. Reclaimable silicon raw materials, which include tops and tails of discarded portions of silicon ingots,pot scraps and broken silicon wafers acquired from the semiconductor and solar power industries may also be used as feedstock. The use of reclaimable silicon raw materials to manufacture ingots can result in a lower overall cost of raw materials. However, the use of reclaimable silicon raw materials increases the difficulty of producing ingots of similar quality to those made only from polysilicon.
In the most widely used crystalline silicon-based solar manufacturing process, feedstock is melted in high temperature furnaces and then formed into ingots through a crystallization process. Ingots are cut and shaped, then sliced into wafers using high precision slicing techniques. Wafers are manufactured into solar cells through a multi-step manufacturing process that includes etching, doping, coating and applying electrical contacts. Solar cells are then interconnected and packaged to form solar modules, which together with system components such as batteries and inverters, are distributed to system integrators, service providers or directly to end-users, for installation for on-grid or off-grid solar systems.
