Ecoprogetti is a globally active company, among the TOP 5 photovoltaic machine manufacturers for worldwide capacity. Ecoprogetti is specialized in machines and turn-key lines for Photovoltaic Module Production. For 20 years the Italian firm has been designing solutions for photovoltaic module manufacturing with innovative materials and high-quality standards. Ecoprogetti provides its customers turn-key production lines of various levels of automation and capacity, tailor-made on our customers’ requirements. PV equipment, installations, certified training, know-how transfer, raw material support, certification support are the activities that Ecoprogetti offers in order for you to produce high-quality PV modules.

Ecoprogetti, a reference point in the

photovoltaic world.

Since 1998 the Italian company Ecoprogetti has been studing, designing and developing machinery and complete turn-key lines for the production of photovoltaic panels. Everything, from the first drawing to the final testing of the machine is done here in our Italian facility, having the advantage of a single representative from the time of order to post-

sale assistance and support. Our experience allows us to offer a wide range of services that are not limited to the sole phase of machine production but that include a series of operations which purpose is to guarantee a complete, quick and professional support.

WE PROVIDE:

• Turnkey lines for PV module manufacturing: We design and produce complete lines of machines for pv module manufacturing. To the client is delivered a turn-key package to start the production of pv modules.
• Machines for Pv module production:

Our machines are designed to carry out the best performance for their specific activity in the module production cycle. From the stringer machine to the sun simulator, from the laminator to the framing machine, every machine can be inserted inside a production line or as a standing alone unit.

• Equipment for quality tests:

We have machines for quality control of the modules and make testing necessary to the correct certification on the basis of the market’s standards. Ecoprogetti provides quality control machinery to specialized laboratories and to who desires to manage the certifications themselves.

• Know-how transfer at 360°:

We provide our expertise on PV module production, covering each step of the production, costs optimization, and certification of the photovoltaic modules. The training we provide guarantees to our clients that they will be able to produce High-Quality Tier-1 photovoltaic modules.

Our experience in the design, production and testing fields allows us to provide a punctual and precise service, always.

Strong solar irradiance and UV rays, temperature fluctuations (from +30° C to -20° C), high levels of humidity and heat, atmospheric events such as hurricanes and tornados, composition of the terrain, presence of salt, ammonia, sand, chemical compounds, organic corpuscles in the atmosphere have all contributed to how leading solar manufactures optimize design, select module components and refine manufacturing techniques.

In order to satisfy customer demands that panels perform in harsh environments, manufacturers must balance the limitations of their existing manufacturing equipment with the cost of new and perhaps risky innovative raw materials.The key to this challenge is know-how of the entire module assembly process. This combined with the right combination of raw materials and transfer of know-how from the manufacturing equipment supplier will result in continuous control and repeatability in the manufacturing process, guarantee resistance to extreme conditions, constant yield and minimize PID (Potential-Induced Degradation).

One common weak point in manufacturing is the polymerization of EVA must be controlled precisely to avoid any eventual de-laminations. An optimal polymerization is between 75-90%, which gives elasticity to the laminate and allows it to avoid any delamination due to the expansion of the materials, such as ribbon, after being exposed to thermal cycling. This can be controlled by using the right recipe in the lamination phase which should be tested multiple times to obtain the best result. According to Ecoprogetti’s R&D team, cell spacing can even influence how heat disperses through the panel and impacts cell resilience to extreme heat and extreme cold. Great focus should be given to cell soldering, which must be homogeneous along the whole length of the bus bar in order to avoid hot spots and breakages of the photovoltaic panels. These observations have lead Ecoprogetti to introduce a revolutionary soldering wheel method that evenly bonds the ribbon to the busbar surface without the gaps experienced during the IR pin process.

In the first picture below, PV modules using the above mentioned soldering method and cell spacing technique were installed over 10 years ago above the article circle. These panels still operate in -30 C conditions. The second picture attached was taken in extreme arid conditions where temperature fluctuations, low atmospheric humidity and sand storms happen daily. After the module leaves the factory floor, there is very little that manufacturers can do to ensure their survival. Any shortcuts or miscalculations during stringing or lamination will eventually begin to surface and handling during installation will aggravate any flaws. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that manufacturers focus on these two key process steps.

The choice of the correct raw materials makes a great difference in the resistance to these extreme weather conditions. The glass which makes up 8.13% of the pv module’s material cost compared to the encapsulant 3.92%, the cells 67.5%, the ribbon 3.35%, the back-sheet 3.47, the sealant 0.7%, the j-box 4.47% and the frame 8.16% will all impact the quality of the final module and are possible points of failure. For example, framed glass-backsheet (GB) modules installed near salt fog or ammonia from the ocean can, over a long period of time, experience frame failure (unless the aluminum has gone through a specific surface treatment). On the other hand there are glass-glass modules that can withstand high humidity (due to a lower permeability compared to standard GB modules) and sandy winds. This does not imply that any glass type is suitable for every environment. Indeed it would be better to use an ARC glass for industrialized areas where aggressive chemical compounds in the air and organic molecules can deposit on the glass’s surface, thereby masking the cells and consequently lowering the efficiency of the solar panel.

Another critical point of failure in PV modules is the junction box where sealing and plastic type come into play. There are a variety of plastics that make up the j-boxes, primary and secondary class plastics. These plastics can vary in quality due to cost cutting measures in their supply chain and will have a lower durability to UV rays and a minor resistance to extreme temperature variations. It is important that newer manufacturers understand these nuances that others have had to learn through trial and costly error.

Beyond reading academic studies and supplier reports, manufacturers should actively check with other sources, including equipment suppliers, whether a new material will work in their panels bill of material and for its intended use. Typically when working with new customers Ecoprogetti covers these important topics during the training phase to ensures that the customer’s R&D, process engineering, purchasing and management understand the value in making the right choices when starting their PV business with the highest quality module at a competitive price.

The European landscape for PV looks at present dominated by very big and mostly Chinese module manufacturers which own a large market share and generate a very tough competition against European module producers. The real challenge for European and small-medium sized module producer companies and for newcomers in the solar business it is to understand how to be competitive against those Chinese module suppliers and to achieve not only good price levels to be attractive for the market but also keep high quality European standard product.

What has to be considered as a milestone for Solar PV companies and newcomers to solar modules manufacturing is to maintain reasonable and mid-low company overhead costs and fixed costs and aim to be efficient in the production by keeping operating costs of the manufacturing plant as low as possible. The Italian company Ecoprogetti, for 20 years has been designing, developing and assembling solutions for photovoltaic module manufacturing with innovative materials and high-quality standards.

The company do not only produce complete turnkey production lines with great manufacturing equipment but also share its experience in the solar industry with newcomers to the market and a deep understanding and transfer of the production process in order to allow newcomers to reduce the entrance costs to the business of manufacturing PV modules. To be a newcomer with no experience in this business can be very challenging, as solar PV becomes more accessible and affordable across the globe, more nations are turning to local PV manufacturing in a bid to stimulate the development of their renewable energy markets, indeed many governments around the world.

Ecoprogetti is a globally active company, among the TOP 5 photovoltaic machine manufacturers for worldwide capacity. With over 30 years of experience in the solar sector we are one of the world leading suppliers of production solutions for the assembly of solar panels, providing simple, flexible and modular solutions to manufacture the best quality pv panels. Ecoprogetti designs, develops and delivers state-of-art turnkey module manufacturing solutions with different levels of automation. Ecoprogetti started as a module manufacturing company that began in 1994 with a very manual production line, but later on we started to fabricate machines for personal usage in order to reduce the labor and increase the production capacity and the quality of the final product. Ecoprogetti has designed machines for the entire photovoltaic chain, from polysilicon to module production, specializing in machines for quality control of pv modules. Today Ecoprogetti has grown beyond the classic manufacturing solution provider, offering state of the art solutions for pv modules, from 10MW to 1.2GW, fully automatic or semi-automatic, always flexible and ready to work with all the traditional pv components as well as all the latest technologies. In order to confirm the quality of the modules being processed, Ecoprogetti offers a series of quality testing machines and accessories as well as quality testing services that can be performed directly at Ecoprogetti’s facility or at the place of interest. Ecoprogetti gives high importance to quality systems to improve both the customer’s satisfaction level and the organization of its own human resources. The machines for the assembly of pv modules require attention and precision in every phase of the construction process. This is why we test and monitor the quality of our solutions. The Italian firm has a complete training program provided by our expert technicians, also in local language, to make a full transfer on the photovoltaic production process at 360°, as well as complete know-how transfer of the pv knowledge acquired in over 30 years of experience.

WE PROVIDE:

•Turnkey solutions for PV module manufacturing: We design and produce complete solutions of machines for pv module manufacturing. To the client is delivered a turn-key package to start the production of pv modules. •Machines for Pv module production: Our machines are designed to carry out the best performance for their specific activity in the module production cycle. From the stringer machine to the sun simulator, from the laminator to the framing machine, every machine can be inserted inside a production line or as a standing alone unit. •Equipment for quality tests: We have machines for quality control of the modules and make testing necessary to the correct certification on the basis of the market’s standards. Ecoprogetti provides quality control machinery to specialized laboratories and to who desires to manage the certifications themselves. •Know-how transfer at 360°: We provide our expertise on pv module production, covering each step of the production, costs optimization and certification of the photovoltaic modules. The training we provide guarantees our clients that they will be able to produce High Quality Tier-1 photovoltaic modules. Our experience in the design, production and testing fields allows us to provide a punctual and precise service, always.