engineering the solar age - Suppliers for Photovoltaics

PC-based control for photovoltaic production

With an extensive portfolio of robust and powerful industrial PCs, fieldbus components, drive technology and TwinCAT automation software, as well as the high-speed EtherCAT communication system and XFC, the high-speed machine control system, Beckhoff offers a scalable, modular control concept that provides an ideal solution for every task in the creation of photovoltaic products: wafer cutting technology and inspection, saw damage etching, texture etching, diffusion, phosphor glass etching, anti-reflective coating, metallization, classification, transport and storage systems, as well as stringer and lamination lines.

The basis for process communication is the Ethernet-based fieldbus system, EtherCAT, which is ideally suited for use in photovoltaic plants due to its flexible topology. Direct communication between the controller and the I/O signals – without special hardware – offers machine manufacturers, for example, the possibility of realizing high-precision motion control with many axes, synchronized by means of EtherCAT distributed clocks. This leads to better control quality and faster machine processes.

Robotics as an integral component of the controller

By extending TwinCAT automation software with the “TwinCAT Kinematic Transformation” library, robots can now also be integrated seamlessly into the PC Control system, which means that PLC, motion control, HMI and robotics run on just one industrial PC. TwinCAT supports various parallel and serial kinematics, such as those used for pick-and-place tasks. Application examples in photovoltaic production are loading and unloading in automatic production lines for solar cells. The integration of robotics into the PC Control concept provides the user with a series of advantages. Not only are costs and engineering efforts reduced, but friction losses caused by the interaction of various CPUs are eliminated, as a result of which the performance and accuracy of the machine are increased.