PV machine builder focuses on innovation Made in Europe
Europe is currently struggling to find a common strategy to rebuild photovoltaic production. Know-how and inventiveness are also available in this country, as the example of Teamtechnik, technology leader for systems for solar cell strings, shows.
05.12.2023 – The station forecourt in Freiberg am Neckar (Baden-Württemberg), which has a good 16,000 inhabitants, presents itself tranquilly on this sunny late autumn morning. Just under five minutes away by e-mail, directly behind the A8 motorway underpass, a dynamic pulse of the future beats in the headquarters of the mechanical and plant engineering company Teamtechnik. In partly futuristically styled buildings, a good 550 employees develop and produce high-tech automation solutions for the e-mobility, medical technology and new energy (PV and battery technology) industries.
Among other things, the company is a technology leader in the development of production systems for the production of solar cell strings for photovoltaic modules. Teamtechnik employs 1,100 people at 7 production and 13 service locations worldwide. Since 2021, Teamtechnik has been part of the Dürr Group (18,000 employees), which has just completed the acquisition of another automation company, BBS Automation. Within the group, BBS and teamtechnik form the "Production Automation Systems" division with a combined turnover of approx. 500 million euros.
Active in the solar sector since 2004
Teamtechnik entered the solar technology market as early as 2004. In 2006, the first generation of high-performance stringers for the production of solar cell strings was presented at leading international trade fairs. This was followed in 2010 by the construction of a new 2,300 m2 production hall for the solar sector in Freiberg. One stringer system was delivered per week. In the same year, the Swabian mechanical engineering company also took the step into China with the founding of Teamtechnik Production Technology Ltd. in Jintan and Suzhou.
In 2012, the company already sold a production capacity of several GWp of solar stringers, making it the world market leader in this field. The photovoltaic business boomed and further major orders from China followed. In the last quarter of 2013 alone, the major Chinese solar module factories ordered more than 50 stringer systems from Teamtechnik. "a cell in 2.25 seconds," it was said in 2014. The Swabians presented the world's fastest stringer system in China at the time.
Bonding instead of soldering – Nomination for Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology Award
And the innovation spiral continues. Currently, the cycle time is 0.85 seconds for the TT4200 i8 and 0.9 seconds for the TT4000 i8 ECA. The TT4200 i8 works with conventional IR light soldering and is mainly used in the production of solar cell strings with PERC or TopCon technology. The TT4000 i8 ECA has been developed using a specially developed bonding process for bonding highly efficient solar cells of the latest generations of heterojunction (HJT) and multijunction (tandem solar cells). Heterojunction and tandem solar cells combine conventional crystalline solar cells with a thin film of amorphous silicon or another semiconductor material, such as perovskite.
In the bonding process, an electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) is printed on both sides of the cells in a first step. In the second step, the metallic cell connectors are embedded in the adhesive and the cell connection is cured at low temperature. This process is thermally and mechanically particularly gentle on the sensitive layers of modern and ever thinner solar cells. It reduces the occurrence of so-called "microcracks" (minimal damage to the cell structure), is lead-free and allows the processing of so-called "busbarless" cells.
"The absence of lead makes solar module production more environmentally friendly and recycling easier," says Teamtechnik spokesman Philipp Enzel. At the end of October, the company with the new technology was therefore nominated for the final round of the Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology Award in the "Material Efficiency" category.
"At present, the bonding technique is still a niche for stringers, but it is becoming increasingly important. This is because modern solar cells are not only becoming more powerful, but also thinner and more sensitive," says Michael Schäfer, Senior Account Manager Solar. The first orders in the gigawatt range have now been received.
Precision and speed are crucial
Many of them are lined up in the production hall with the new, white stringer and are checked again and accepted by the customer before delivery. They are packed with automated precision tools, grippers with suction cups, conveyor belts, light barriers, cameras, other electronics as well as cables and hoses in a very confined space.
In a matter of seconds, the fine cell wires are glued or soldered to the supplied raw cells and connected to form cell strings. "Precision and speed are decisive," emphasizes Enzel. The core competence in the development of machines and automation solutions is software, whereby Teamtechnik also works together with control specialists such as Beckhoff. A new-generation stringer can connect solar cells with a total output of about 125-145 megawatts per year.
Teamtechnik experts also accompany the assembly of the stringers in the PV factories on site, instruct the specialist staff in their operation, offer training courses and take care of maintenance and, if necessary, later updates and modernizations of the production lines.
Export business to China is a thing of the past – concentration on Europe
However, gone are the days when the Swabians sold their stringers in large quantities in China. "We can currently no longer sell stringers from Germany to China and that will not happen anymore," says Schäfer. In recent years, the Chinese have greatly developed their own plant and mechanical engineering and now produce their own stringers for the major PV manufacturers in the Middle Kingdom. Meanwhile, Teamtechnik in China mainly manufactures systems for the e-mobility sector.
All the more reason for Teamtechnik to focus on PV production and a renaissance of high-performance solar cell production in Europe and the United States as a sales market. In the first steps, something is now moving, according to Enzel. "But without a common European strategy, the increased local reconstruction of PV production will be difficult." After all, China and the United States are currently massively subsidizing their own industry and distorting the markets. As a result, the European solar module production market has not really developed so far, as companies are currently investing in the United States rather than in Europe. But know-how, inventiveness and pioneering spirit is also available in "good old Europe", as the example of team technology shows. Hans-Christoph Neidlein
Post a Comment for "PV machine builder focuses on innovation Made in Europe"