Solar energy remains a growing market in North America and
around the world. You can see in the
accompanying “Solarbuzz” study that worldwide market share for photovoltaic
solar panels has increase by an average of 30% per year over the last 20 years
and that in 2008-10 has shown a noticeable upswing.
This growth is due to many factors including government incentives,
improvements in the photovoltaic technology, and manufacturing improvements
which have made it possible for going green with solar to be more competitive.
Multicyl has been involved in a number of projects with
manufacturers of solar panels, with 2 of the biggest being Hydro Aluminum in
Florida in 2009 and recently in 2011 with SunEarth in California.
The frames that need to be manufactured to house the glass
in the panels require a number of holes to be punched in a variety of places
and sizes, and Multicyl has a several features that appeal to this type of
manufacturing need. SunEarth requires
both cut to length and hole punching operations for a number of differently
sized frame components. The compact size
and adjustability of Multicyl was perfect for the job – the machine could punch 3
to 16 holes and cut parts to a length of 3’ to 12’, and could be set up for any
part and combination in the range within 5 minutes. A complete part is punched 2 seconds with a
single operator. See a picture below and
click here to see a video of the machine in operation.
