Systems and method for precision automated placement of backsheet on PV modules

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10043937-B2
Application number	US-201514877870-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2015
Priority date	Dec 5, 2014
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

A method for constructing a photovoltaic (PV) substrate. A moving frame can be lowered towards a stack of back sheets and a back sheet of the stack of back sheets may be secured to the moving frame. The back sheet can be transferred from the moving frame to a vacuum table. An adhesive can be dispensed to the back sheet using an adhesive dispenser. At least one string may be placed onto the adhesive applied to the back sheet. The vacuum table can be rotated, and the back sheet can be released from the vacuum table onto a glass sheet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for constructing a photovoltaic (PV) substrate, the method comprising:
moving a moving frame towards a stack of back sheets and securing a back sheet from the stack of back sheets to the moving frame;
transferring the back sheet from the moving frame to a vacuum table;
dispensing an adhesive to the back sheet using an adhesive dispenser;
placing at least one string onto the adhesive applied to the back sheet;
rotating the vacuum table; and
releasing the back sheet from the vacuum table onto a glass sheet.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the moving frame comprises lowering the moving frame by operating a hoist coupled to the moving frame to lower the moving frame towards the stack of back sheets until the moving frame comes into contact or near contact with a back sheet.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the hoist is supported by a gantry bridge that is slidable between the stack of back sheets and the vacuum table.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein transferring the back sheet includes moving the gantry bridge to position the back sheet over the vacuum table.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the adhesive dispenser is attached to the gantry bridge and wherein the gantry bridge is configured to move while dispensing adhesive to apply an adhesive pattern onto the back sheet.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein placing the at least one string onto the adhesive comprises retrieving the at least one string from a staging location using an overhead string picking hoist coupled to a staging gantry.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising positioning heaters directly adjacent to the at least one string on the back sheet and heating the at least one string using the heater to initiate curing of the adhesive.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising securing the at least one string against the back sheet by applying a clamp against the at least one string.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the clamp comprises an air bag that is inflated against the at least one string.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein releasing the back sheet from the vacuum table comprises dropping the back sheet onto the glass sheet.

11. A system for constructing a photovoltaic (PV) substrate, the system comprising:
a moving frame configured to pick and move a back sheet from a stack of back sheets;
a vacuum table configured to receive the back sheet from the moving frame and apply suction to the back sheet, the vacuum table being rotatable such that back sheet can face downward or upward while applying suction to hold the back sheet;
an adhesive dispenser configured for applying a pattern of adhesive to the back sheet when the back sheet is facing upward on the vacuum table;
a string picking hoist configured to retrieve at least one string and move the at least one string onto the pattern of adhesive when the back sheet is facing upward on the vacuum table; and
a glass sheet module configured to receive the back sheet, with the at least one string adhered to the back sheet, onto a sheet of glass when the back sheet is facing downward from the vacuum table.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a hoist coupled to the moving frame, the hoist being configured to lower the moving frame towards the stack of back sheets until the moving frame comes into contact or near contact with the back sheet.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the hoist is supported by a gantry bridge that is slidable between the stack of back sheets and the vacuum table.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the adhesive dispenser is attached to the gantry bridge.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the string picking hoist is coupled to a staging gantry and is configured to retrieve the at least one string from a staging location and move the at least one string from to the vacuum table by movement of the staging gantry.

16. The system of claim 11 , further comprising heaters attached to the moving frame, the heaters being configured to heat the at least one string using to initiate curing of the adhesive.

17. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a clamp operable to secure the at least one string against the back sheet during rotation of the vacuum table.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the clamp includes air bags that are inflated to press the at least one string against the back sheet.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the vacuum table is configured to drop the back sheet and the at least one string onto the glass sheet positioned onto the glass sheet rack.

20. A method for constructing a photovoltaic (PV) substrate, the method comprising:
operating a hoist coupled to a moving frame to lower the moving frame towards a stack of back sheets until the moving frame comes into contact or near contact with a back sheet, the hoist being supported by a gantry bridge that is slidable between the stack of back sheets and a vacuum table;
applying suction to the back sheet using the moving frame to secure the back sheet to the moving frame and remove the back sheet from the stack of back sheets;
moving the gantry bridge to position the back sheet over the vacuum table;
applying suction to the back sheet using the vacuum table to transfer the back sheet from the moving frame to the vacuum table;
dispensing an adhesive to the back sheet using an adhesive dispenser attached to the gantry bridge;
retrieving at least one string from a staging location using an overhead string picking hoist coupled to a staging gantry;
moving the at least one string from the staging location to the back sheet at the vacuum table;
moving and releasing the at least one string onto the adhesive applied to the back sheet;
positioning heaters attached to the moving frame directly adjacent to the at least one string on the back sheet;
heating the at least one string using the heater to initiate curing of the adhesive;
securing the at least one string against the back sheet by applying a clamp against the at least one string;
rotating the vacuum table 180 degrees such that the at least one string and back sheet face downward;
unsecuring the at least one string from the clamp;
releasing the back sheet from the vacuum table onto a glass sheet such that the at least one string is between the back sheet and the glass sheet.

Assignees

• Solarcity Corp

Inventors

• Gonzalez Pablo
• Yang Bobby

Classifications

• Y02P70/521

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01L31/1876

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/049

  Electricity · mapped topic

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title

• H01L31/18 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic