WCN Autumn 2011

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OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL WIRE & MACHINERY ASSOCIATION
WIRE & CABLE NEWS Autumn 2011 ISSUE N° 45
WCN Issue N° 45
1
IWMA exhibiting members at
wire Russia in Moscow in May,
questioned by staff, felt that their
contacts had been of a higher level
than in 2010 – despite attendance
figures appearing quiet. There
appeared to be progress at last
on potential investments in new
technology, justifying exhibitors’
participation costs.
The IWMA stand secured 35
firm enquiries as well as new
memberships, thanks to the good
work undertaken by executive board
members Joerg Inhelder and Stuart
Duff. There was also strong interest
in the IWMA’s CabWire World
Conference 2011 in Düsseldorf in
November.
The association expects to secure a
number of new memberships in its
follow up of the enquiries received.
Authority level of visitors to wire Russia 2011 suggest things
are moving in Russian and CIS markets
Bound for South American client
Queins & Co, Germany, is currently
manufacturing another big planetary
stranding machine for a South-
American customer to be used for
subsea cables/umbilicals.
The machine will handle power cable,
stainless steel tubes, signal cables
and hoses. Pay-off reel weight is 30
tons each, with a reel flange diameter
of 3,000mm.
Queins & Co GmbH – Germany
Fax: +49 247 230 14
Email:
Website: S S The planetary stranding machine fromQueins
Tinning line for production of solar ribbon
for North America
Howar Equipment and Plasmait
introduced the PlasmaPreplate Tinning
Line to the North American market at
Interwire in May.
PlasmaPreplate tinning process can
be used for production of tinned
copper conductors such as solar
ribbon. Since its introduction in 2007
is has become the process of choice
for the leaders in the PV ribbon
industry in Europe and increasingly
in Asia. Solar ribbon is fast becoming
of interest also in America due to the
increasing interest for solar energy in
the US and Canada.
Solar ribbon (also called PV ribbon)
is an essential component in every
mainstream solar panel. It is soldered
directly onto a solar cell to collect
electrical current generated in the
cell. PV ribbon is tinned copper
ribbon between 1mm and 6mm wide
and 0.08mm-0.5mm thick with a
10-30 micron thick tin coat.
PV ribbon is required to retain high
degrees of conductivity throughout
the life-time of a solar panel –
typically 20-25 year. Its solder contact
with the cell must withstand outdoor
weather conditions that mean
constant fluctuation of temperature
and humidity.
PV ribbon therefore commonly
requires a high degree of softness
with YS (Rp0.2% < 90MPa and
elongation > 25%). A good solder
coating is necessary to ensure
long-term corrosion protection and
durable solder joint. PV ribbon also
requires camber less than 0.3% and
low dimensional tolerances.
The PlasmaPreplate process has
been rapidly adopted by the PV
ribbon industry since its introduction
in 2007. Its multiple rollouts by the
leaders in the industry were due
to its superiority compared to the
conventional tinning process.
The main advantage of the process is
in the quality of the finished product.
The process allows a production of a
ribbon with a high degree of softness
and tin coat quality. The line runs
at up to five times the speed of a
conventional line whilst performing
annealing and cleaning inline with
tinning in a single run. Such a high
output line requires considerably
less manpower to operate than the
conventional tinning line. The plasma
production is also environment and
operator friendly without fluxing and
chemical treatments.
Companies interested in testing their
own material on PlasmaPreplate
tinning line are welcome to contact
Howar Equipment to discuss a trial.
Plasmait GmbH – Austria
Fax: +43 318 252 4754
Email:
Website: