As the solar industry shifts focus from quantity to quality and processes become more complex, the extensive library of this Italian company vision tools provides advanced machine vision technology to achieve the most reliable results.
Manufacturers must monitor quality from incoming materials and wafers through every step of the PV value chain to achieve high-quality, high-yield solar cell production.
This technology leads the way in precision alignment for automated wafer handling; in ID for part tracking, genealogy, and process control; and in inspection for quality management.

Here a list of the applications of this technology:
" Wafer Inspection: Check wafers for stains, contamination, and mesh pattern and ensure dimensions to avoid processing warped or flipped wafers." Silicon Crystal Inspection: Measure the growth of silicon crystals and provide data to help correlate the relationship between crystal appearance and wafer yield." Wafer and PV Cell: Identification. Reliably identify all codes for wafer and PV cell traceability throughout the production process." Defect Inspection: Detect chipped edges, saw marks, and contour defects on wafers." AR Coating Inspection: Inspect the antireflective coating thickness and color uniformity on wafers/cells." Cell Orientation Detection: Monitor solar cells to ensure correct upright orientation prior to the dopant application phase." Cell Defect Detection: Inspect cells for chips and cracks to ensure any defective cells are rejected prior to processing." Screen Print Alignment: Align solar cells for screen printing." Laser Edge Isolation: Align cells and inspect the edge groove cuts along the wafer edges to isolate the emitters from the back sides of the cells." Color Cell Sorting: Inspect and sort solar cells by slight color variances and grade the cells based on inconsistencies in the color." Back Print Registration Inspection: Measure the position, width, and distance between the bus bars and check the continuity of finger lines." Robot Guidance: Transmit placement information for robot guidance applications used throughout the solar panel manufacturing process." Front Print Registration: Inspect lines for contour breaks, continuity, and excess solder and ensure that traces are parallel and correctly registered." Solar Panel Traceability: Track individual modules through production and into the field by reading 2D (DataMatrix) codes marked directly on panels." Cell Spacing: Ensure uniform cell spacing in the finished module." Connector Inspection: Ensure solder is present and at the correct location for attaching electrical plugs to the solar module." Frame Inspection: Ensure screws are present and in the right position on the aluminum frame." Panel Assembly Verification: Perform a final quality inspection on the panel assemblies to ensure accurate cell spacing, construction, and part placement." Tabbing/Stringing, Alignment and Inspection: Center the PV cells, minimizing the need for mechanical contact, and examine the cells for defects while also verifying the continuity and correct assembly of each string.

Innovative Aspects:
This vision system for solar PV modules provides users with a toolset for the eight most common solar production quality issues: edge chip inspection, pin hole detection, back print registration and inspection, front bus bar registration, front finger trace inspection, color uniformity inspection and crack detection.
Advanced pattern-finding technology allows to locate features of wafers, cells, and modules under extremely challenging conditions with unmatched accuracy and reliability.
Whether it's color sorting or verifying antireflective coating color uniformity, color tools detect and measure color features. Color search histogram tools are easy to train and provide critical color capabilities that can't be achieved with greyscale vision technology.
The powerful decoding software tool is designed to read the most challenging codes. This readers reliably reads even degraded, reflective, or low-contrast marks, making full wafer-to-panel traceability a reality.

 

Patents/Rights: Secret know-how

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