Heraeus' acquires additional patent families which embody the use of tellurium in metallization pastes
Heraeus Photovoltaics, the worldwide leading supplier of metallization pastes to the PV industry, has acquired three patent families from the Japanese company Murata Manufacturing. The patent families on the basis of the international patent applications WO2014050703, WO2014045900 and WO2014050704 refer to metallization pastes, which contain glass compounds (glass frit) with specific material combinations basing on Tellurium-Oxide. The patents further strengthen the company's intellectual property position as the market leader in the development, manufacturing and use of pastes having tellurium containing glass frit in the paste compositions.
Glass frit is a key component in the formulation of metallization pastes, enabling the electrical contact formation between the silicon substrate and the metal electrode. Tellurium containing pastes have demonstrated improved electrical contact to silicon solar cells over non tellurium containing paste. Furthermore, Tellurium containing glasses play an important role in lead-free pastes, which is increasingly gain market share due to environmental considerations.
"We are leading a trend towards the usage of lead-free pastes in solar cell manufacturing, which has intensified this year. The patents we recently acquired from Murataare of strategic importance to our R&D activities to offer our customers high performance metallization pastes that will immediately begin to add value to their products," states Dr. Weiming Zhang, Senior Vice President Research and Development, Heraeus Photovoltaics. "They complement our existing patent portfolio including the Shoei patent families which we acquired earlier and which gives Heraeus a very strong position in the future market of lead-free paste."
For Andreas Liebheit, President Heraeus Photovoltaics, the acquisition of the Murata patents signifies the consistent development of Heraeus' Intellectual Property strategy. "With more than 70 patent families, Heraeus Photovoltaics has one of the strongest patent portfolios in the segment of solar cell metallization pastes. This strength proves our innovativeness and provides a significant value added to our customers. This expansion of our intellectual property portfolio through the synergies of internal development and acquisition is meant to provide our customers with industry leading solutions that are commercially viable for fair trade. They benefit form innovative products based on a strong patent portfolio. We will continue to develop and defend this position."
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