The photovoltaic (PV) industry roadmaps point to increased complexity of cell processing to enable improved cell efficiencies,while decreasing the final cost to customers.Many of these processes occur at elevated temperatures or in applications where the materials used in the process equipment require special properties of electrical or thermal conductivity.There are several parallels from our experience in the semiconductor industry and standards that are being developed today.There are many applications in both silicon and thin film manufacturing where it is necessary to have uniform coatings and heating sources,either for preheating a surface before a deposition step or for curing of a previously deposited material.Graphite is an excellent uniform plasma electrode material for many ion implant,Plasma Enhanced Vapor Deposition (PECVD) and heater applications due to its beneficial electrical and thermal properties.Pure graphite,being composed solely of carbon (Figure 1),eliminates the opportunity for metal contamination that occurs with the use of metallic heater elements.Graphite that is highly isotropic with respect to its structure and properties is desirable for many applications.Figure 2 shows two examples;one with high isotropy and a typical graphite structure.There are a wide variety of graphite materials available on the market and not all are suitable for applications in the photovoltaic market.The process to selectively engineer graphite is shown in Figure 3,Graphite is utilized as a material of choice for many high temperature photovoltaic equipment applications.The properties and the design of these components impact the equipment performance and ultimately the cell manufacturing capability of the equipment.This presentation will discuss how the properties of graphite are important for the critical applications of heater elements,PECVD process carriers,and ion implant beam line components.Process data is presented which shows how different grades of graphite material used for the PECVD process carrier can affect the thickness and uniformity of the anti-reflective coatings applied.For ion implant applications,the metal purity of graphite is reviewed as metal impurities in the graphite beam line material can affect cell performance.Understanding the impact of graphite properties on cell manufacturing capability will enable photovoltaic equipment companies and cell manufacturers to make the optimum material selection for their application.Graphite is an excellent material choice for many photovoltaic equipment applications and is used for heater elements,process carriers for plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition,ion implant beam line materials and other applications.Consideration of how graphites design and properties will impact the process is needed to select the appropriate graphite for specific applications.Different grades of graphite can result in shorter lifetimes,process variations or become sources of contamination.Process needs will only become more stringent as the industry progresses towards higher efficiency cells with more complex structures and processes.