EoW November 2013

Technical article

▲ ▲ Figure 6 : HMI with a touch-screen, user-friendly interface on PlasmaPREPLATE tinning line

The differences between the two processes can be divided into the differences related to production efficiency and the differences in finished product quality. investment, PlasmaPREPLATE tinning process offers a number of benefits that translate into considerable long-term savings: • Production speed of up to 150m/ min compared to 5m/min-60m/min in a traditional process means fewer tinning lines, smaller machinery footprint and less manpower • Process stability, increased production uptime and less frequent spool changeovers means less material manipulation and less operator involvement in PlasmaPREPLATE tinning line • Dry surface preparation with plasma replaces acid cleaning, rinsing, drying, fluxing, waste disposal, and water treat- ment used in the traditional process • Less tin waste due to flux-free production • Quick changeover between different products and specifications • Lower cost of production in terms of power, manpower, cost of chemicals and their manipulation as well as maintenance • In-line quality control in the PlasmaPREPLATE tinning process translates into consistent product quality, less scrap and fewer returns The key production parameters in the traditional tinning are compared Despite higher capital

to

the

production

parameters

of

PlasmaPREPLATE tinning in Table 1.

In addition to production efficiency plasma process offers a number of product quality advantages when compared to the traditional tinning process: • Superior and consistent product quality is reflected in: • Super soft wire with yield strength down to 60 MPa on spool and elongation over 30% • Smooth consistent and shiny coating with tighter thickness tolerance • Dry, flux-free and chemical-free tinning simplifies process control, which translates into more consistent product quality • In-line laser coating thickness measurement system can be justified on a high-speed plasma line • Computer enabled, in-line product quality control with alarm and surface fault database simplifies quality control activities • Computer assisted Production Recipe Database is an essential tool for the operator and product manager and an integral part of production know-how management It is the stability of PlasmaPREPLATE process, consistency of product quality, low cost of operation as well as low scrap rates and tin waste that have won the confi- dence of many PV ribbon manufacturers since 2007 when PlasmaPREPLATE tinning process was first introduced to PV ribbon production. n

Plasmait GmbH Philipsstraße 27 / C3, 8403 Lebring Austria Tel : +43 3182 52 4751 Email : info@plasmait.com Website : www.plasmait.com

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November 2013