IPC Forms Committee to Develop Solar Panel Assembly Standards
September 4, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
IPC formed a solar standards committee to develop guidelines for the poly-silicon photovoltaic (PV) industry, specifically the assembly of solar panels.
At a July committee meeting, members identified seven areas of standardization to be addressed:
- Acceptability guidelines for solar panel lamination.
- Specification for materials used in tabbing and stringing.
- Acceptability criteria for tabbing and stringing.
- In-process test methods for solar panels.
- Visual acceptance criteria for solar panels - final module assembly.
- Guidelines for final test with an emphasis on flash test.
- Design guidelines for tabbing and stringing.
Committee members include representatives from Jabil, Flextronics International, Celestica, 3M Co., Bürkle North America Inc., Christopher Associates Inc., DEK, Indium Corp., EFD Inc., Vitronics Soltec and Lincoln International.
"As solar energy manufacturing takes on a global scale, it is critical that comprehensive assembly standards, including DFM, process materials, workmanship, test and inspection are developed and adopted across the industry," said Dr. Dongkai Shangguan, vice president of advanced technology, Flextronics. "IPC, with active support from its members, is well positioned for this."
Source: IPC.