InnoLas Systems GmbH introduces an in‐house designed cell-handling system for its ILS TT laser machines. The new system is tailor‐made to suit the company’s ILS TT high volume production capacity and can achieve a throughput of up to 3600 wafers per hour.
An efficient manufacturing process in the production of the crystalline-silicon (c-Si) solar cells also depends on the fast and safe handling of the cells. Commercial, off‐the‐shelf solutions often represent a compromise between speed, accuracy, cost and safe break-free transport. Therefore, InnoLas Systems decided to design a handling unit that is tailored to the ILS TT laser machines. It employs proven transport and sorting mechanisms and is built from the high-quality parts. A frame construction with high structural rigidity, high torque motors and drives, precision bearings and motion-control software developed by InnoLas ensure fast and precise transport of the wafers with smooth acceleration and deceleration.
Customer feedback played a vital role in the design process, ensuring that the fully automatic handling meets the real world requirements of the photovoltaics (PV) industry.
All components were extensively tested at the InnoLas Systems’ application lab to ensure perfect integration. The new fully automatic handling unit guarantees efficient loading and unloading of the laser station for processes such as selective emitter, metal wrap-through (MWT), contact-opening passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC) or laser-fired contacts. The design combines high acceleration and transport speed with gentle handling of the wafers to minimise stress and avoid damage. The robust, yet sophisticated unit can transport up to one wafer per second for high volume production environments.
Based on a single belt design and a multiple carrier buffer, the system reduces the unit’s footprint, saving valuable floor space. It also increases the robustness of the system, thus reducing maintenance cost and downtime. The new handling system has already been installed successfully at three different customers in 24/7 production in combination with InnoLas ILS TT laser machines.
Photo: The InnoLas Systems fully automatic handling unit achieves up to 3600 wafers per hour throughput.
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