Manufacturing process
Siliken manufactures photovoltaic modules at its production plants in Rafelbunyol (Valencia), Casas Ibañez (Albacete), El Rosario (Tenerife) and San Diego (California). All our production lines work 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday over three shifts to be able to meet the continuously growing demand from our clients and scrupulously comply with agreed deadlines.
These modern production lines apply a manufacturing model of the highest level of efficiency in terms of reliability, while our own know-how provides us with greater flexibility as we are able to design, develop and manufacture our own module production lines, thus obtaining clear advantages in terms of reducing machinery commissioning times, investments and improving the quality of both the process and the product.
One of the main characteristics of our production lines is the use of manual manufacturing procedures, which enable a level of constant quality control that automatic procedures could not offer. The human element, in conjunction with automatic testing, is the key to detecting even the slightest of imperfections and guaranteeing the excellent quality of our products.
Our engineering teams are continually working on improving our production processes and searching for the most advanced technologies that can be applied to them.
We are in constant contact with our customers in order to obtain valuable, first-hand information that helps us improve and better serve their day-to-day needs. The concepts of quality, flexibility and service are an essential part of all Siliken’s activities.
How a module is made
The first step in the module production process is to perform quality control tests on each solar cell; the cells are classified according to their capacity to generate energy in order to maximize the performance of the modules. Once classified, the cells are grouped in “series", the voltage of each series is controlled and then they are connected to each other by means of metal conductor strips.
Once the cells are interconnected they are placed on a highly transparent hardened glass panel and the external connections are prepared. Then, additional layers of EVA are used to seal the matrix with the aim of protecting the unit from the effects of ultraviolet radiation. The protection layers cover the matrix of solar cells and then they are heat-sealed in the laminating unit to create a vacuum. The sealed cell matrix is then attached to an anodised aluminium structure, which is used to facilitate the handling and installation of the modules and to improve their resistance to meteorological conditions, and the connection box is attached. Each module is subjected to a final exhaustive quality control test and a solar simulator in order to measure its electricity production in a range of situations before being packaged. Modules that present anomalies at this stage are discarded.
Our standard modules cover power ratings from 17 Wp to 238 Wp and use polycrystalline and monocrystalline solar cells. Each photovoltaic module consists of a set of electronically interconnected silicon cells that are mounted on a glass and aluminium structure that is resistant to atmospheric conditions, with a stylised design.
At Siliken this process is made up of several manual stages, which guarantees a level of quality control that cannot be achieved through automatic processes. Furthermore, our machinery has been designed in accordance with our own know-how, so the production process is much more dynamic and flexible when a format or material change is introduced in the market, as we do not have to rely on external machinery suppliers, which normally take several months to provide a new machine.
