New glass-glass approach

The enormous resistance and flexibility of tempered thin glass (whether it is float glass, rolled glass or coated glass) now serve as a basis for a new concept of extremely light-weight PV-glass-glass-modules.

For the production of these modules, LiSEC developed a fully automatic production line especially designed for the glass-glass encapsulation approach. An integrated part of the method is a new vacuum laminator, enabling that up to four modules are processed simultaneously within a two minute cycle time - thus delivering a PV-module every 30 seconds.

Curing of EVA, PVB or any other foil material is made in a separate batch-curing oven. The full-range supplier LiSEC optimized the whole workflow from finishing of glass to the module encapsulation process and to assembly. Because of the use of thin glass and the fact that there is no need for aluminum frames, the glass-glass encapsulation method yields an overall energy balance improved by 50 percent per square meter compared to conventional modules.

The first fully automatic vacuum laminator, as part of the pilot line to be installed in the second quarter of this year, and is already operational at the LiSEC INOVA research and development centre