cmpid=EnlEIQDailyMay202011
Automated assembly lines from KUKA Systems outfit Canada's largest solar
panel plant
Canada NewsWire
May 18, 2011
STERLING HEIGHTS, MI and AUGSBURG, Germany, May 18 /CNW/ - KUKA Systems
North America has made a successful entry into the burgeoning Canadian solar
panel manufacturing sector, demonstrating in the process how it can adapt
its extensive suite of automated production solutions to a panel maker's
unique requirements. KUKA Systems provides photovoltaic panel manufacturers
around the world with fully automated production lines or any level of
automation short of that, from cell layout through all stages of module
assembly and quality control, regardless of type or dimensions.
For its first Canadian customer, KUKA Systems is installing three partially
automated, post-lamination framing lines for trimming, framing, testing and
packout of photovoltaic panels, a $12 million contract. Each line consists
of five robots, as well as applicators, conveyors and other handling and
testing equipment. Installation began in the first quarter of 2011.
120MW of annual production - per line This customer is building Canada's
largest solar panel manufacturing plant, in southern Ontario. Each line will
be capable of handling 120MW of annual production, making it North America's
largest manufacturing site for crystalline silicon-type panels and one of
the largest on the continent making any type panel. "This is a landmark
contract, one of our largest in North America to date and our first
solar-related installation in the small but rapidly growing Canadian solar
manufacturing sector," says Robert Giaier, Vice President, Alternative
Energy, KUKA Systems Corp North America. "We welcome the opportunity to
contribute our solar technology and extensive experience as assembly line
integrators to our customer's success."
A definite plus for solar customers The post-lamination lines were built
first at KUKA Systems North America, tested in-house, then disassembled and
trucked to the customer's facility where they are being reassembled. "It's
fair to say installing a piece of automation in Ontario is more involved
than in many other North American jurisdictions," says Giaier. The technical
requirements for electrical systems definitely are more stringent in a
number of ways, covering transformers, special wiring and other safety
considerations. "The fact KUKA Systems has installed complete automated
assembly lines in Ontario for some of the world's leading automakers is a
huge help," says Giaier. "We have a great deal of retained knowledge of the
Ontario technical requirements and how to anticipate them in our planning
and site preparation, a definite plus for our solar customers."
Solar power industry With the growth of the modern solar power industry,
KUKA Systems, a world leading systems integrator specializing in
manufacturing flexible automatic production processes, has developed and
installed proprietary solar automation solutions for both the crystalline
silicon and thin film sectors of the industry. Those technologies cover
wafer, cell and module production, helping the PV panel manufacturing sector
improve their competitiveness. KUKA Systems' expertise in designing and
building integrated assembly lines for the solar industry leverages decades
of experience automating the assembly lines of some of the world's largest
automakers. The Ontario facility targets the Ontario market because of
strong interest in solar power development being stimulated by attractive
feed-in tariffs offered by the government of Canada's most populous
province.
About KUKA Systems: KUKA Systems Corp North America, a Michigan-based
company, is part of the KUKA Systems Group of Augsburg, Germany, a leading
global supplier of flexible automation systems for the Automotive,
Aerospace, Energy and Industrial Solutions sectors. Some 3,500 employees
worldwide work on ideas, concepts and solutions for automated production and
the provision of products and services for virtually all tasks in the
industrial processing of metallic and non-metallic materials. The Energy
Division offers engineering services, automated production modules and
complete turnkey production lines for the photovoltaic, solar thermal and
wind energy sectors.
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