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PDFTHE CHALLENGE
Optimizing each stage of the solar panel production and installation process from silicon purification to final installation and monitoring.
THE SOLUTION
Using NI hardware and software to increase efficiency throughout the solar panel production process, from purifying silicon ore to manufacturing and testing the final product.
Sunlight is the most plentiful natural resource. Because the sun is not subject to the same supply limitations as fossil fuels and it is available nearly everywhere, it is being used as a free, clean source of renewable energy. Our engineers at Siliken Renewable Energy work to help harness this abundant resource and address escalating environmental and energy concerns.
Siliken differs from other photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturers because we handle all aspects of solar cell development from silicon purification to panel manufacturing and verification. NI products play an important role in our research and development to innovate and produce new technologies and to test every solar panel we produce.
To purify the silicon for our PV cells, we use a novel purification process that is approximately 40 percent cheaper than traditional methods. To further increase efficiency, we incorporated the NI PXI platform, the LabVIEW FPGA Module, and sound and vibration and vision software into our standard control equipment. With this highly integrated NI LabVIEW and PXI platform, we can conduct separate critical tasks during purification using a unified solution.
Siliken Renewable Energy is one of the world’s fastest-growing manufacturers of solar panels.
After we put the PV cells in the panels, we use a PC-based system running LabVIEW and an NI PCI-6220 M Series data acquisition (DAQ) board to “close” the solar modules. We assemble the solar panels and perform I-V characterization tests to verify the power output of every module to ensure each one produces the stated power. Using NI CompactRIO, LabVIEW FPGA, and an NI PCI-6122 S Series multifunction DAQ board, we can perform these tests with greater accuracy and significantly increase our throughput. As a result, we were recognized for providing the best advertised-to-actual performance ratio for panel output.
Additionally, we are researching other renewable energies, such as hydrogen fuel cells and wind power using CompactRIO and NI CompactDAQ, because these platforms offer compelling operational advantages and shorter development times than other traditional control and test tools.
– Alberto Cortés and Ricardo Silla, Siliken Renewable Energy
View a video of Siliken’s applications and learn more about its development process.
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This article first appeared in the Q2 2009 issue of Instrumentation Newsletter.
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