BONDING & SOLAR

In the solar industry, ATN bonding plants have been used since 2007 for bonding unfinished and finished bricks in wafer production, for bonding frames and connector boxes and for filling connector boxes in solar module production. The processed materials are mainly multi-component adhesives and silicones.

Adhesive application can take place manually, semi-automatically or can be fully automated. In semi- and fully-automated ATN bonding plants for the solar industry, industrial robots are used.

Semi-automatic brick bonding plant

Layout
The illustrated semi-automatic brick bonding plant consists of the positioning and fixing station with two processing positions, an industrial robot with quick-retooling unit on the sixth robot axis to accommodate two dosing systems, a retooling station, two two-component application heads and ATN dosing systems, and the fluid feed system with single-barrel (pail) pumps.

Sequence
The workpiece carrier is placed into the positioning and fixing station by hand and moves automatically into the robot cell. The robot retrieves the two-component dosing system and starts adhesive application. The glass pane is then fitted to the workpiece carrier by hand outside the robot cell. Adhesive is applied to the workpiece carrier–glass pane assembly. The brick (silicon block) is placed and clamped onto the assembly in the positioning and fixing station by hand. A manipulator takes the finished brick assembly out of the positioning and fixing station and places it in a curing station, where it is available for further processing.

Fully-automatic brick bonding plant

Layout
Fully-automatic brick bonding plants consist of a pallet depot for silicon blocks with camera system for position detection, an industrial robot with exchangeable gripper system, a coating plant, a magazine for tool carriers and glass panes, gravity centring unit, adhesive application station with ATN two-component application heads and ATN dosing systems, single-barrel (pail) pump as fluid feed system, cleaning station, joining/fixing station and transfer station.

Sequence

This plant fully automates the assembly of workpiece carrier, glass pane and bricks (silicon blocks) into subassemblies for the subsequent process in the wafer production.

The fully-automatic brick bonding plant incorporates the entire manual sequence of the semi-automatic brick bonding system.

Solar module frame bonding

System layout
Solar module frame bonding The frame bonding plant consists of a frame parts feeding system, an industrial robot with a gripper on the sixth robot axis, the joining station, a two-component application head with dosing system and a double-barrel pump fluid feed system.

Operating sequence
The industrial robot takes the frame components off the feed system, and transfers them to the two-component application head with a dosing system, where the adhesive is applied, before passing them to the joining station.