CHAD Industries launched a semi-automatic platform for solar concentrator (CPV) cell welding and hot-bar reflow. The CHAD SBA-1 Semi-Automatic Bonding Workstation can be used for product development, prototyping and low-volume production processes.

April 4, 2011 - Marketwire -- CHAD Industries Inc., factory automation product supplier to electronics, semiconductor, and solar manufacturing industries, launched a semi-automatic platform for solar concentrator (CPV) cell welding and hot-bar reflow. The CHAD SBA-1 Semi-Automatic Bonding Workstation can be used for product development, prototyping and low-volume production processes such as CPV cell interconnect welding or solar cell tabbing.

The system offers the ability to align cells and interconnects to very precise tolerances and weld them in position. Concentrated photovoltaics cells typically feature very small contact pads and require precise placement of the interconnect leads to avoid any shadowing of the cell's active area. Different configurations of the system are available for vision-aided manual alignment or vision-guided automatic alignment. The system is offered with power supplies for either interconnect welding or hot-bar reflow, as well as the necessary application specific tooling. When configured for hot-bar reflow, the station suits specialty solar cell tabbing. Features for cell stringing can also be incorporated.

Key processes are consistent throughout the product line so users can bring product from R&D to production, said Ward Palmer, sales manager.

This new system complements the CHAD SBA-3 Automatic Solar Cell Welder introduced last year, which features robotic material handling, machine vision guided alignment and automated resistance welding. Cells can be loaded into the system in waffle packs or taken from diced wafers mounted on film frames. CHAD also provides custom configured versions of both systems to meet specific customer design and throughput requirements.

Both systems feature the Miyachi Unitek parallel gap resistance welder. The parallel gap welding process is very quick and introduces relatively little heat into the product. This reduces the chance of micro-cracking due to heat stress. Resistance welding creates very robust joints that stand up well to the typical environment stresses. Alternatively, the system can be configured with the Miyachi Unitek Uniflow3 hot bar reflow soldering power supply. Uniflow3 offers pulsed heat technology for targeted heating and precision temperature control. Both power supplies provide a user programmable heat profile that can be tailored to suit specific product needs.

CHAD Industries designs, manufactures and markets wafer handling solutions for the semiconductor industry, mechanical and odd-form component assembly solutions for the electronics industry, and automated solar cell handling, welding and test solutions. More information is available at http://www.chadindustries.net.

Miyachi Unitek manufactures equipment and systems for resistance welding, laser welding, laser marking, laser cutting, and hot bar reflow soldering and bonding. Find out more about the company's products and services at www.miyachiunitek.com.

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