Solar Manufacturing Equipment Solutions
The solar energy industry’s demanding manufacturing requirements require innovative approaches to process automation, material handling, and high yield solutions. Global competition for alternative energy requires that successful companies ramp to high volumes quickly while maintaining relentless focus on reducing the cost per watt. Rapidly evolving wafer-based and thin film photovoltaic (PV) technologies require an equally rapid evolution of the automated manufacturing equipment.
Owens Design Solar Manufacturing Equipment Solutions
Wafer-based Silicon PV
Handling fragile, mono-crystalline, or poly-crystalline silicon wafers requires experience and reliable equipment design. Thinner and thinner substrates require innovative approaches. Owens Design has experience handling very thin, fragile wafers under high speed processing conditions. Automated PV manufacturing approaches that provide continuous manufacturing at the highest quality and lowest cost are necessary. These solutions must be rapidly scalable to high volume manufacturing. Total manufacturing cost must be addressed from the wafer, to the solar cell module, and ultimately at the solar panel level.
Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV)
Automating the manufacture of concentrating photovoltaics requires a systems level approach to design for manufacturability, system design, and cost reduction. The integration of the added optical components in the concentrating design must be assembled and aligned with highly customized automated equipment. By clearly understanding the tradeoffs in system complexity, cost, and performance, Owens Design will work with your staff to design the optimum production tool for you application.
Thin Film Solutions
Automating the manufacturing process for, amorphous silicon and emerging multi-layer thin film designs (i.e. CdTe and CIGS) is a complex systems problem. While standard equipment may be available for some processes, often unique form factors and substrates require custom handling solutions. Backend processes for preparing the substrate for encapsulation, packaging and test must be customized for the process. Owens Design has experience developing custom automation for glass, flexible substrates, vacuum, and atmospheric systems. We can integrate critical process modules with custom mechanisms to form a complete manufacturing solution.
“The fact that Owens Design provided both design and manufacturing for our product made them the superior choice.”
Dennis Scott, PresidentQuestar Products
