The renewable energy technologies available today are increasingly replacing conventional systems. Above all they are experiencing a boom. For suppliers of alternative technologies such as photovoltaic, solar, thermal and wind energy plants the future is looking good.
Concerning commercial aspects the use of renewable energies is also growing. Because of the technical progress and the possibility of mass productionthese energies will become more competitive. At the same timethis represents a considerable challenge to satisfy the operators' increasing needs.
Solutions for mounting assemblies and components are crucial for the producers of, for example, photovoltaic modules. How can the utilised components be joined up intelligently and economically? How can it be assured later on that these connections will also defy the wind and weather?
With a range of high-technology adhesive tapes Lohmann provides answers. This is possible because of a comprehensive know-how regarding innovative adhesives technologies based on many years of experience in the energy business. Some of these new solutions focuses on photovoltaicwhere adhesive tape solutions are used in different ways. We can find such solutionsfor exampleduring the production of framed solar modules.
The quality of the adhesive tapes used during the manufacturing are a crucial fact for the functioning of the complete solar element. A special challenge here was the variety of the adhesives. On the one hand they have to ensure a safe bonding on different substrateson the other hand they must fulfil the procedural demands when producing the systems.
As photovoltaic modules are designed for a service life of 25years adhesive tapes have to be weather proofed and UV-consistent. They must be a very high quality. In-house climatic change testing and moisture-heat storage conditions from the standard IEC61215 and DINIEC61646 ensure the quality of the adhesive bonds by certificates.
The first solution Lohmann offered for the photovoltaic industry was a special tape for the framing of solar laminates. Most crystalline solar laminates consist of encapsulated solar cells in its centrea glass front and a foil cover at the backside.
To secure the laminate against mechanical loads and to be able to mount them easily on the roofthese laminates are bonded in an aluminium frame using a special pure acrylic adhesive tape. When the application is finishedthe tape encloses the laminate in an u-bend. Using an adhesive tape during this procedure offers a lot of advantages over other adhesive systemseg liquid adhesives.
The tape has a defined thickness and, therefore, a defined quantity of the material between laminate and frame is always guaranteed. As the tapes do not pollute the moduleno cleaning necessary.
Furthermore, the application technology is less complicated and needs less servicing. As the module can be moved and packed directly after the bondingthe cycle times of the complete process can be reduced. And this means time and money to the customer.
The customised solutions offered to the energy industry by Lohmann are versatile. Due to the requirements of the industryadhesive tapes with integrated functionsfor exampleare being developed in addition to crystalline solar modules. The focus is also on thin film modules.
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Christina Barg-Becker and Anke Bell are with Lohmann GmbH & Co.KG, Neuwied, Germany. www.lohmann-tapes.com
