KUKA Systems Energy Solutions
Three years ago, the Dresden company SOLARWATT AG invested in a new highly automated production line for manufacturing crystalline solar modules. The special feature of this line is that it is systematically based on highly flexible robotic solutions. A finished solar module comes off the conveyor every 28 seconds. When the system came on stream in 2010, the production line at SOLARWATT was the most highly automated solar module production facility in the world. Having identified the requirements, Augsburg-based automation specialist KUKA Systems developed the system concept in close cooperation with SOLARWATT and supplied most of the production equipment for the complete manufacturing process chain. KUKA Systems automation solutions such as ROBO STRING-Test, ROBO Trim, ROBO Tape, ROBO Frame are also integrated into the production line. These are well-proven and covered by many patents.
Following two years of production on the new manufacturing line, the Dresden-based solar module manufacturer – the quality of whose products was recently recognized by the market research institute EuPD Research – now wishes to update the frame design of the modules. The aims are to increase still further the mechanical stability by means of a particularly innovative design and to reduce material costs. The modifications to the frame also affect the cell layout. It is thus necessary to adapt a large part of the production equipment. Particularly affected is the ROBO Frame framing process which is to be further developed in this context. „Due to the changes to the frame geometry, the string and matrix layout and the stacking requirements during module packaging must also be adapted. Our flexible production concepts are designed to allow conversion to new module versions“, explains Markus Keese, leader project management in the Energy Solutions division at KUKA Systems GmbH. In the course of these modifications, which are to be carried out in a very short conversion time, a total of 20 process stations have to be adapted.
„The thing that makes KUKA production concepts for solar module manufacture stand out from competing systems on the market is the ability to ensure that the high quality requirements of the end product are met while guaranteeing a high degree of flexibility by means of the robotic solutions used“, explains Frank Klingemann, CEO of KUKA Systems GmbH.
„The investment in intelligent robotic automation ensures that solar module pro-duction remains variable. Unlike complex and rigid traversing axes, flexible automation solutions with industrial robots can be adapted far more easily to new products, for example“, adds Klingemann. SOLARWATT is thus equipped to meet changing requirements in terms of the cost and quality of its premium solar modules at short notice in this fast-moving market.
About KUKA Systems
KUKA Systems is an international supplier of flexible automation systems for the Automotive, Aerospace, Energy and Industrial Solutions segments. Some 3,500 employees worldwide work on ideas, concepts and solutions for automated production and the provision of products and services for virtually all tasks in the industrial processing of metallic and non-metallic materials.
In the Industrial Solutions segment, KUKA Systems supplies solutions for all aspects of joining, assembly and handling. The process technologies, which include numerous types of welding, bonding, cutting and press automation, are constantly being developed and refined to produce independent solutions for manufacturing industry.
The range is presented and marketed internationally via the subsidiaries and sales offices in Europe, America and Asia. KUKA Systems recorded an order volume of around 850.7 million euro for the 2011 business year.
KUKA Systems GmbH
Markus Meier
Blücherstrasse 144
86165 Augsburg
marketing@kuka.de
+49 821 797-2483
http://www.kuka-systems.com