PRiMELiNE - Roth & Rau AG

PRiMELiNE
Turnkey Solutions by Roth & Rau
After mounting of busbars and application of edge sealant
the processed substrate, the washed and cleaned back glass,
and the encapsulant foil are mounted together to a stacked sandwich.
This fully automated process tool is called "marriage".
The marriage station is designed to process glass and encapsulant
foil for module sizes up to 1200 x 1600 mm; encapsulant foil
material may be EVA or PVB, which is fed to the machine from
rolls and then cut to the appropriate size and precisely placed
onto the substrate. Encapsulant foil size and positioning with
respect to the edge sealant "frame" is essential for a good subsequent
lamination process result.
The Laminator forms a mechanical stable module from the glassfoil-glass
stack created in the process before, that can withstand
all environmental effects that a PV module is exposed to. This is
accomplished by applying heat and pressure to the stack for a
defined time. Temperatures are adjustable and precisely controllable,
depending on the encapsulant foil material. Pressure is
adjusted in order to obtain a bubble-free, homogenously polymerized
encapsulant material. Included in the scope of delivery is the
integrated cooling press to cool down the modules to temperatures
that allow safe subsequent processing.
After lamination the PV module is almost ready, only the specially
adapted junction box needs to be connected to the busbar on the
module backside. This process step can be executed either manually
or fully automatic, with crimp or soldering connection to the
busbar, with adhesive pads, hot melts or silicone adhesives, with
metal or polymer junction boxes: Obviously, all customer requirements
can be fully met by the flexible process station design.
Final testing consists of a Flasher, a Wet Leakage Tester, and a
Visual Inspection Station. Flashing simulates PV module output at
sunlike illumination (STC, 1000 W/m 2 , AM 1.5 global) and therefore
enables determination of module output parameters Pmax, Impp,
Umpp, Isc, Uoc, and - finally - the module efficiency . Design of the
Flasher may be either horizontally or vertically, depending on the
individual requirements at customer's site.
A Wet Leakage Test (= High Potential Test) ensures proper electrical
insulation of the module. UL1703 and IEC61730 are the basic
standards, covering requirements for safety and construction of
photovoltaic modules to address prevention of electrical shock
and fire hazards. These two base standards are to be used in conjunction
with IEC61646. Only modules that pass this test are
considered as "sellable modules" and will be labeled according
to its output power. Label printer and software connection to
Flasher and Wet Leakage tester is included in the Backend Cluster
design. Metrology tools utilized within the Roth & Rau CTF Solar
Back-End Cluster comprise of a back glass inspection (broken
corners, chipping, and edge cracks) and a module inspection
(lamination bubbles, lamination inclusions, glass breakage). All
inspections are fully automatic, incorporating image recognition
and analysis. Optionally, additional inspection methods (electro
luminescence, photo luminescence) can be integrated in the
Back-End Cluster layout.
Key features:
Cluster output > 60 substrates / h
Integrated substrate transport system
Short substrate edge leading
Integrated inspection and metrology (adaptable)
Flexible process design (adaptable to various
encapsulant foil materials
Junction box designs, process/throughput
requirements at lamination
Flasher mechanical design),
Xenon lamp flashing
Automatic module labeling
Flexible and adaptable MES connection
Integrated cooling press at the laminator
All Back-End tools are designed to comply with the Roth & Rau
CTF Solar principle of delivering only environmental friendly tools,
as also realized in the entire PRiMELiNE CdTe Turnkey production
line, which is designed to keep the "environmental footprint" as
small as possible: All fab emissions are post-treated already at
tool-level so that virtually no contaminated or hazardous substances
can be released to the environment, and used processing
fluids are recycled for minimal consumption values.