Application of Industrial Control Computers in the Photovoltaic Energy Sector

Case Background
The structure of the photovoltaic (PV) industry chain consists of three parts: upstream silicon materials and wafers, midstream photovoltaic cells and modules, and downstream power generation applications. Among these, the midstream process of converting silicon wafers into solar cells is the most critical step for achieving photoelectric conversion. The production process involves several key stages: silicon wafer inspection, surface texturing and acid etching, diffusion and junction formation, phosphorus removal from silicon glass, plasma etching and acid cleaning, anti-reflective coating, screen printing, rapid sintering, sorting, scribing, and string welding.

The power output of solar cells is directly proportional to the area of the solar panel (given the same conversion efficiency). Therefore, throughout the entire process, it is common to divide and cut standard solar cells into various specifications of rectangular pieces to meet power requirements. Traditional wire cutting methods often result in poor flatness, a high likelihood of breakage, low yield rates, and significant material waste. With the development of the renewable energy sector, the demand for higher conversion efficiency in solar cells has led to increased requirements for scribing technology.

Laser scribing is currently one of the most advanced technological methods, utilizing high-energy laser beams to irradiate the surface of the workpiece, causing localized melting and vaporization in the irradiated area to achieve the scribing effect. The case user is a well-known domestic manufacturer of laser scribing machines. To ensure the precision and stability of their equipment during the scribing process, the user has set extremely high requirements for the quality and performance of its core computing unit—the industrial computer:

·To ensure stable and rapid operation of the laser scribing machine software, it must possess strong computational power.
·To achieve compatibility with various external functional modules, it must have exceptional expandability.
·To guarantee high timeliness in data transmission from industrial cameras, it must provide stable computational capabilities and a reliable network environment.

Lingchen’s Solution

01 High-Performance Products
Equipped with Intel® 6th/7th/8th/9th generation Core™ i7/i5/i3/Pentium®/Celeron® processors, these products offer powerful data processing capabilities, providing robust computational support for the stable and rapid operation of laser scribing machine software.

02 Rich I/O Interfaces and Strong Expandability
The products feature five serial ports, 2x PCIe x16 (Gen3), 3x PCIe x4 (Gen2), and 2x PCI expansion slots, offering extensive connectivity options. This rich interface configuration provides strong support for external laser controllers, PLC controllers, and high-speed network cards (which enable users to connect four high-speed industrial inspection cameras). Additionally, the products support HDMI, VGA, and other high-definition display outputs, creating an optimal monitoring environment for operators.

03 Dual Intel Chip Gigabit Ethernet Ports for Stable Networking
To achieve precise positioning in laser scribing, users have connected two high-speed industrial inspection cameras via Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports. The stable data transmission capability significantly reduces the occurrence of data packet loss during image transmission, effectively preventing issues related to inaccurate positioning.