Patent ID: 8247255

Claim:
A process for vapor deposition of a thin film layer on a photovoltaic module substrate, comprising: establishing a vacuum chamber maintained at an operation vacuum; introducing substrates individually into the vacuum chamber such that the vacuum chamber is maintained at the operational vacuum; pre-heating the substrates as the substrates are conveyed through the vacuum chamber; and conveying the pre-heated substrates in serial arrangement through a vapor deposition apparatus in the vacuum chamber wherein a thin film layer of a sublimed source material is deposited onto an upper surface of the substrates in the vapor deposition apparatus; wherein the substrates are conveyed through the vapor deposition apparatus at a controlled constant linear speed such that leading and trailing sections of the substrate in a conveyance direction are exposed to the same vapor deposition conditions within the vapor deposition apparatus to achieve a substantially uniform thickness of the thin film layer on an upper surface of the substrate.