Alanod-Solar Unveils Laser Welding Solar Thermal Production Facility

The company's aluminum based absorber surface is called mirotherm and its copper absorber is named sunselect. Solar systems using mirotherm surfaces can take advantage of the lighter weight and stable cost inherent with aluminum.

In its new facility, Alanod-Solar laser welds these absorber surfaces to copper or aluminum tubing to produce an absorber fin called Miro-Fin. This new Miro-Fin product is configured to meet the demands of solar thermal designs in North America.

"We are combining the world's most advanced joining technology with the world's leading absorbing surface using machines designed and built by Swiss manufacturers," said Ingo Beyer, CEO and Managing Director of Alanod-Solar. "The end result is highly efficient, cost effective solar thermal fin absorbers that will enable a new generation of performance and value-oriented flat plate collectors for solar thermal systems."

Laser welding is an advanced joining technology that creates stronger and more efficient conjoined solar surfaces. Alanod-Solar said that its technology team has pioneered the use of laser welding for its absorbing surface, and the resulting absorber plates and fins are widely acknowledged as the standard for the solar thermal industry.

The new continuous laser welding line is run by Alanod Westlake Metal Industries, a subsidiary of Alanod, and is currently operational. Its production capacity exceeds five million square feet of absorber fins per year. The facility employees 20 individuals local to the Greater Cleveland region, and is used for production, warehousing and distribution purposes.