PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

OTB's new tabber and stringer

OTB Engineering B.V., based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, introduces its new tabber TABx and MATx stringer at the PV exhibition in Rome in October.

	© OTB Engineering B.V.
OTB´s tabber TABx comes with a rotary dial for transporting the cells.

The two machines use an innovative soldering method, similar to a welding process, to reduce the size of solder points on the wafer. This precise and contact-free soldering method, which was developed in conjunction with Shell Solar and Dutch research institute ECN, was primarily designed for the processing of back-contact cells, but it can also be used with conventional solar cells.

OTB's tabber uses a rotary dial to transport the cells to the various processing steps. A robot then picks up the tabbed cells and places them in a box, or if desired, passes them on to a connectable MATx stringer. Unlike many other manufacturers, OTB not only offers its stringer with a lay-up for cell strings, but it can also electrically connect the parallel strings; a process that is still done manually in most module factories.

	© OTB Engineering B.V.
	Dutch company OTB's flame soldering process allows exact and contact-free cell soldering.

According to our market survey on tabbers and stringers (see PI 9/2001, p. 34), OTB's devices are in the upper price range of products on the market. Depending on the equipment, the tabber can range between €225,000 and €325,000 ($221,000 and $319,000), and the stringer can cost between 275,000 and €350,000 ($270,000 and $343,000). OTB, which sells its systems worldwide, requires a delivery time of three to six months.

OTB Engineering B.V.
Marinus van Meelweg 2
5657EN Eindhoven, the Netherlands
phone +31/40/29197-00, fax -99
info@otb.nl
www.otb.nl