LAPLACE combines production equipment, automation, and facility engineering to support the development of complete solar cell factories
Its AI-based factory system has reduced the engineering workload by about 50%, according to the company
The company claims to have supplied more than 100 GW of BC equipment and is also developing edge-passivation and perovskite production solutions
PV production equipment supplier LAPLACE is expanding its services beyond individual production tools to support the development and operation of complete solar cell factories.
Speaking at the TaiyangNews Cell & Module Production Equipment & Processing Materials Conference 2026, Josua Stückelberger, Director of Technology for LAPLACE’s International Business Unit, explained the company’s approach to factory design, automation, local supply chains, and digital production management.
LAPLACE supplies equipment for TOPCon, TOPCon Plus, and back-contact (BC) solar cells. Its portfolio includes boron and phosphorus diffusion, LPCVD, PECVD, automation, and laser equipment for structuring polysilicon layers. The company is also active in metrology, semiconductor equipment, and perovskite-based tandem technology.
Stückelberger said international solar manufacturing projects face challenges beyond equipment selection. These include high infrastructure costs, delays in factory construction, long lead times for spare parts and consumables, shortages of experienced PV manufacturing personnel, high labor costs, cybersecurity, and production-data management.
Companies with semiconductor-industry experience often handle facility engineering for solar cell factories. According to Stückelberger, this can lead to oversized utility systems and high infrastructure costs. Poor coordination between the facility designer and equipment supplier can also result in later modifications and inefficient material flow. LAPLACE therefore starts with the manufacturing requirements rather than the building design. The company first considers the target cell process, production capacity, and required equipment. It then develops the automation concept, material flow, and factory layout before designing the utilities and infrastructure.
“We do not fit the factory into the building. We design the building around the entire factory,” Stückelberger said.
According to him, this approach can reduce the number of unnecessary tools, improve equipment utilization, and avoid oversized utilities. Shorter piping and distribution systems for gases and consumables can also reduce the factory footprint. LAPLACE says the integrated design can lower capital and operating expenditure while shortening installation and commissioning times.
The company also supports local sourcing of spare parts and consumables. It can establish on-site stocks of critical components and help customers identify local suppliers before production begins. LAPLACE also provides recruitment and training support to help manufacturers develop a local workforce.
Automation is another focus for international factories, where experienced production personnel may be limited, and labor costs can be high. LAPLACE combines factory automation with an AI-based system that analyzes production data, metrology results, current-voltage measurements, sensor information, and process parameters.
The system is designed to identify correlations, determine possible causes of production problems, and detect process drift or equipment abnormalities, says Stückelberger. It can then support process optimization, predictive maintenance and faster troubleshooting. The results of each intervention are returned to the system to update its models. According to LAPLACE, the system has reduced the engineering workload by around 50%. The company also reported improvements in process capability and equipment uptime, along with shorter production ramp-up times and a small efficiency gain. It stores production data locally so that customers retain control of the information.
LAPLACE also presented its edge-passivation deposition (EPD) technology for cut solar cells. Cutting wafers into half-cells or smaller pieces creates recombination-active edges that can reduce cell performance. The EPD system applies a passivation treatment to these exposed edges. The company says it accounts for almost 50% of the EPD tools deployed. Most of these systems are used for half-cut cells, although LAPLACE has also supplied equipment for quarter-cut cells. According to Stückelberger, edge passivation can improve the efficiency of quarter-cut cells by around 0.35 to 0.40 percentage points.
In BC technology, LAPLACE began working on pilot production lines in 2021. It delivered 20 GW of mass-production equipment in 2022, followed by additional production equipment as the technology began scaling in 2023. Stückelberger said more manufacturers began establishing BC pilot lines in 2024 to gain experience with the technology.
LAPLACE claims to have delivered more than 100 GW of BC production equipment. Its portfolio covers high-temperature processing, coating, laser processing, and automation. The company also claimed a market share of almost 95% for BC equipment. Some BC production stages use equipment types already applied in other cell technologies, including LPCVD. However, Stückelberger said the systems required further development to improve film uniformity, gas distribution, throughput, and production costs.
LAPLACE is also developing customized equipment packages for perovskite production and operates a pilot line for customer development projects.
Watch the full presentation video here.
