From One Engineer to Another

SMT Goes Solar

Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Jim Hisert [Jim Hisert]

I'm excited about the May 2009 issue of SMT magazine, which will be highlighting photovoltaic soldering applications.  Not only does it combine soldering and PV (which is our niche), but it will be including an article written by Karl Pfluke of the Indium Corporation.  (Abstract shown below)  Karl's one of my personal heroes, he's a veteran technical engineer and leader in solar applications.

 

Photovoltaic Stringing in Solar Cell Module Assembly

By Karl Pfluke

Indium Corporation

 

"As more and more contract manufacturers (CMs) look for opportunities to diversify and fill factory space, photovoltaic (PV) solar cell module assembly seems to be the popular choice.  Commonly referred to in the solar panel industry as the "back end process", the assembly is done in lines and has some similarities to SMT. 

 

Solders, solder pastes, solder wire, solder preforms, and fluxes are used for interconnects in PV assembly.  Since RoHS and WEEE initiative does not apply to this industry, many manufacturers use SnPb solder for interconnects, Sn60 and Sn62 being the most popular. However, SnAg is occasionally used, and some manufacturers are exploring the use of SAC alloys (SnAgCu), specifically SAC305.

 

One process, "cell stringing" or "tabbing", uses products quite familiar to the SMT industry.  Tabbing ribbon, a precisely straight and flat piece of copper that has been coated with a tightly controlled thickness of solder, is used to connect multiple PV cells. 

 

This article discusses the common solders, reflow technologies, and materials used in PV cell stringing for solar module assembly."

 

Nice work Karl!

~Jim

 

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Comments for SMT Goes Solar

Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Rick Short:
Welcome to the SOLAR blogging space, Karl. Your many years in the electronics assembly arena make your perspective quite valuable and interesting. This is proven out in your excellent article in SMT magazine. Great work.
Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Jim Slattery:
Very timely article Karl. I believe this article will be most helpful to those companies that currently do solar module assembly. Many do not have the soldering experience as EMS companies who are now branching into module assembly from SMT assembly.
Monday, March 23, 2009 by Amanda Hartnett:
Great work Karl! Cant wait to read this article!
Friday, August 14, 2009 by DIYSolarPanels:
Great article indeed! Love this blog!
Monday, August 17, 2009 by Jim H:
Maybe well see it posted on that DIY Solar site?... Email me if you need a copy of it.
Saturday, July 3, 2010 by Noemy Stotler:
We do interconnect cell strings for PV assembly panels, having problem with soldering on back of cell on the bus bar solder not having enough force on the peel test sec, is 2N using Teamtechnik stringer with laser soldering and alpha flux tryied many differente temp setttings and other prcess steps. Any ideas
Monday, July 19, 2010 by Jim H:
Noemy, my advice is to try GS-5454 tabbing flux. This flux activates quickly, even with less overall heat input. Let's get your process up and running with the best tabbing flux and maybe on-site technical support to dial the process. If this sounds good, just let my team know how we can help you: solar@indium.com

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