GCSP research stipend | Spring 2022

Designing an Automated Soldering Station to Solder Copper-Ribbons onto PV Cells

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Soldering tin-coated copper ribbons (300 µm round) on photovoltaic cells (~200 microns thick) requires precise control of temperature, soldering speed, and the applied force. Additionally, the tabbing needs to be soldered to a specific part of cell metallization. When done by hand, it can take up to 40 minutes and human error can lead to the breaking of multiple cells. Our design of using an automated soldering station allows us to precisely control the soldering process and improve the soldering quality significantly. Our design allowed us to retrofit a 3D printer with a force-sensitive 4th axis to control a soldering iron. This consistent fracture-free soldering will allow other researchers to gather uniform data on stresses induced on PV cells due to other factors (such as lamination), eliminating the variability of soldering stresses in experiments.

Student researcher

Deepit Arora

Deepit Arora

Engineering (robotics)

Hometown: Delhi, India

Graduation date: Spring 2024