Visitors flock around solar products at glasstec

The penultimate day at glasstec, Oct. 24, saw another full house and plenty of solar-related queries. Besana Italy introduced a double-edger with multi spindles, SQ10 T, that got much attention, said Brian Martineau, sales agent, Besana Lovati, Italy, with U.S. headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C. “The edge of the glass preparation is important to the solar industry, because if there are any fractures in the edges, the glass will burst when installed in a module on the roof,” he said.

The tempering oven at the Lisec booth piqued interest, said Manfred Lesiak, marketing event manager. The company has the largest single company stand, 2,600 square meters, at the show and is showing a complete factory setup with interlinking machines. “At the heart of solar glass production is the tempering oven,” he said. “Our oven makes 2.1 millimeter glass that can be used for solar glass. It produces no roller waves and the tempering is of superior quality.”

Carlo Strappa, marketing manager, Intermac, Italy, said the company’s double-edging machine was good for solar glass. “It tracks the coated side and treats it very gently,” he said.

Schott Solar’s glass with photovoltaics inside was a big draw, said Frank Albrecht, sales manager, architectural glass, Germany.

Euroglas, Germany, introduced two solar control and thermal insulation products: Silverstar Combi Neutral 41/21 and Silverstar Selekt T, said Cornelia Held, Marketing and Beratung, Silverstar.

Saint Gobain, France, introduced four concept glasses at the show: Electrochrome Control Glass, GlassXcrystal, Cool-Lite Xtreme and Climatop Max, all solar control products with high transmission rates and low G value, said Janina Rudnizki, assistant, marketing and sales. “The Climatop Max is for zero energy buildings,” she said. Other Saint Gobain products that got attention were: the SG Photovoltaic Glass line with extra white cover for solar modules and collectors: SGG Albarino S and SGG Albarino T with 91.5 energy transmission; and SGG Albarino P and SGG Albarino G that increases electricity yield of PV modules, do not accumulate additional dust and efficiency increase outdoors of up to 12.5 percent. The Miralite Solar line also got much attention, Rudnizki said.

AGC Flat Glass Europe, Brussels, showed its TCO coated glass, said Jeroen Schotsaert, product manager, Thin Film PV Solar Glass.

Glaston, Finland, introduced two solar machines at the show: the Tamglass CHF Pro, for architectural and PV solar glass tempering, and the Tamglass ESU EcoPower, to meet the demands of curved solar glass. ”The ESU automatic bending furnace shapes the glass at the focal point of the reflector with extreme accuracy,” said Topi Saarenhovi, senior vice president, Heat Treatment. ”It has a serial bending with radiation and heat recovery assisted convection for an accurate and energy-efficient process.” The machine was surrounded by curious attendees and potential custometrs at most time of the day.

Back in the North American Pavilion, Glasstech, Perrysburg, Ohio, showed the CRB-S, EPB-S, DB4-S. The Cylindrical Radius Bender is a tempering/heat strengthening/low-stress glass system for producing large low-iron glass for parabolic solar reflectors. The External Press Bender is a tempering/heat strengthening system for smaller, high volume spherical and parabolic shapes. The Deep Bend 4 is a tempering/annealing system for producing smaller/high volume spherical and parabolic solar collector deep bend parts for CSP and CPV.

Glasstec ends tomorrow.

Read more about the fourth day.