Metallization Engineer

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We are a leader in providing customer-oriented solar energy solutions, striving to make solar energy competitive and affordable for the average consumer. We have 500 MW of production capacity at our state of the art manufacturing facility in Oregon. SolarWorld is dedicated to providing a work climate that promotes career growth, open communication and new ideas.

Position Overview

This position reports to the Senior Engineering Manager within SolarWorld’s 500MW solar cell production facility. The principle function of this position is to provide daily operations support to the metallization and classification area in SolarWorld’s PERC cell factory with respect to efficiency, yields, quality, productivity and cost. The Metallization Engineer leads the introduction, maintenance and development of equipment for manufacturing silicon wafers and solar cells.

The successful candidate assumes ownership of equipment, sub-systems and processes, and provides content expertise. He/she collaborates with production and maintenance personnel, manages specific projects and coordinates cross-functional activities with purchasing, sales, fellow engineers in other areas, facilities, and the IT department.

Responsibilities

• Optimize and maintain equipment functionality in the metallization and classification area to achieve the best possible throughput, yield, quality and solar cell power.
• Optimizing process parameters for screen-printing, paste drying, paste firing for cell power and step cost.
• Own new hardware, screens and paste introduction from evaluation to full implementation.
• Frequent interaction with domestic and international vendors to discuss equipment and process issues and improvements.
• Work side by side and provide guidance to maintenance technicians. Develop and sustain maintenance training and maintenance procedures.
• Partner with purchasing to ensure proper spare parts supply and consumables in assigned areas.
• Monitor production systems and performance daily and respond to excursion resulting in yield loss, quality excursions and low solar cell efficiency through self-driven, comprehensive troubleshooting down to root cause.
• In coordination with the operations team and the quality engineer, ensure the proper execution of quality metrics.
• Develop operational procedures and train production technicians and equipment operator on proper and safe execution and verify compliance to achieve best repeatability and reproducibility across multiple equipment sets.
• Document changes in cooperation with document control, gather experimental data, report quality results, identify wafer/cell defects and thrive to reduce defects
• Maintain and search equipment logs and production database, consolidate data for reporting line yield and monitor crucial process parameters to ensure highest quality and efficiencies of solar cells
• Communicate with production supervisors and personnel to gather data, coordinate daily activities and training.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will possess the following combination of experience, knowledge, and skills:

• A minimum of a 4-year degree in a related technical discipline or equivalent work experience.
• 5 years of experience in solar cell metallization having demonstrated expertise in optimizing screen-print and firing processes.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, procedure manuals, and technical specifications and literature.
• Hands-on experience in running, maintaining and modifying equipment as well as machine shop and power tools.
• Experience in training and mentoring technical and operational staff.
• Solid skills in PC and Windows applications.
• SQL proficiency and knowledge of statistical data analysis is beneficial.
• Must have demonstrated problem solving skills, and must be willing to work in a team environment.
• Ability to prioritize deliverables in an often-competing environment.
• Must be able to work under time constraints and be flexible regarding work hours in order to support 24x7 coverage.
• Must have the ability to work inside a clean room environment and wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Safety must be a priority.