This is an interesting question when you know how fragile silicon cells are. Silicon cells are normally 16 x 16 cm2 square pieces with a thickness of between 180 or 200 microns that must be handled with great care. Otherwise, they break down easily. If you had ever had the chance to hold a cell phone in your hands, you would probably have suffered the moment you bent it slightly and heard the “little click.” A few seconds later, after opening your eyes again, you realized that the cell was not like a few seconds before, in one piece. As you counted the n pieces spilled on the floor, you probably wondered: How did that happen? At the same time, you are advised to be extremely careful when handling it next time. They are really very, very fragile.
Can you imagine how to manage 60 cells in rows to manufacture a glass-glass module of 250 W or more? If it is not easy to manufacture a photovoltaic panel of normal size (1,680 x 900 mm) between glass, it should be much more difficult, if not almost impossible, to manufacture photovoltaic building elements of much larger sizes, such as facades, roof laminates, etc. . Considering the production of special laminates of glass-glass-silicon cells, we would all agree that if it is complicated to manipulate the cells and their connections if we do not have a photovoltaic manufacturing line in our factory, even more difficulty is added to the time to process them. Modules under pressure inside an autoclave.
If your question is then: Can I do it in my glass factory without having a photovoltaic line? We can answer you by saying yes, it is possible. You can do it. It is not something easy to do, but it is possible. Our teams of Development Engineers, together with our Technical and Optical film manufacturing capacity, have been working on the development of special encapsulant films to be able to laminate cells between glasses in an autoclave. Our work was not only focused on special films but also extended to the study of the best lamination conditions for them inside autoclaves.
Well, once again, as occurs in the traditional construction of photovoltaic modules, the encapsulant is the most important element of the glass-glass module during the lamination process. When pressure is used, the encapsulant must be able to withstand and "manage" the applied pressure to prevent cell rupture. Furthermore, during this process it has to build the necessary mechanical and optical properties to become a "powerful" architectural wall or roof of buildings. This is one of the challenges facing building integration photovoltaic (BIPV) technology today.
We have been working on all these challenges considering this particular manufacturing situation. We can provide you with the appropriate materials to make this happen, facilitating the manipulation of the cells, preventing them from breaking. Additionally, we have developed some procedures that should work for you to overcome the pressure working conditions of your autoclave. If you are interested in it, send us your contact references and we will contact you to help you manufacture this type of products in your factory.