Message #547 From:
TheMachine Date: February 18, 2008 07:41:21 AM
Glasstech Forms New Solar Systems Business Unit, Includes Several Current High Tech Systems
Michael
Ondrus Named Director Of Solar Energy Systems. Versatile Equipment
Provides Flat and Bent, Heat-Strengthened or Tempered
Substrates.
Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S.A. – Glasstech, Inc., the world leader in the
development of glass bending and tempering equipment, has formed a new
business unit to formalize its ongoing activities to meet the solar
energy industry’s burgeoning demand for flat and bent glass substrates.
The announcement was made by Mark D. Christman, Glasstech’s President
and CEO.
Leading the unit will be Michael Ondrus, who has been appointed
Director of Glasstech Solar Energy Systems. Ondrus will market the
firm’s systems as the ideal technologies for the fabrication of bent
glass substrates for concentrated solar power products (CSP) and
extremely flat panels for photovoltaics (PV).
“The demand for glass by the solar industry is and will continue to
become more significant over the next five years and could, at some
point, rival auto industry usage,” Christman said. “And, just like in
the automotive industry, the glass substrates used in solar energy will
be sophisticated and will require repeatability, tight specifications,
innovation and cost effectiveness.”
Ondrus said Glasstech is well suited to meet the demands of the
solar energy industry. “Glasstech has the technology the solar energy
industry needs. Attention to extreme detail in the automotive industry
has led to the development of highly specialized offerings for the
solar industry,” Ondrus said. “Further, who knows glass bending and
tempering as well as producing to tight specifications better than
Glasstech? The company has been the leading innovator of glass
processing systems for more than 35 years.
“And, Glasstech’s personnel have the depth of glass-processing
knowledge clients need, whether they are a solar products manufacturer,
glass fabricator, solar equipment supplier or turnkey system provider,”
Ondrus said. Glasstech systems produce glass in varying degrees of
surface strength – low-stress panels for lamination as well as
heat-strengthened or fully tempered glass for singlethickness uses.
“Heat strengthened and fully tempered glass parts can potentially
reduce failures in the field, which can mean increased cost
effectiveness and reduced operating costs,” Ondrus said. He said
solar-energy versions of several Glasstech systems are ideally suited
for use in the expanding sustainable-energy market. “This is a
high-technology industry that is on the cutting edge. It requires
high-tech equipment,” said Jay Molter, Glasstech’s Vice President of
Marketing & Sales. “Glasstech is the company with the rugged,
production-proven equipment, the track record that will help drive down
the cost per kilowatt hour of energy produced and bring repeatable
processes and tight tolerances to this market.
“Additionally, Glasstech, being a global company, has a worldwide
system of support to assist owners when an infrequent problem arises.
This is a comfort to clients who know the longer their systems run
without interruptions the more efficient and cost effective they will
be.”
Glasstech Systems Glasstech’s Cylindrical Radius Bender – Solar Parabolic Shapes
(CRB-S™) is the most efficient and precise system in the world for the
processing of parabolic shapes for concentrated solar power (CSP). For
the photovoltaic market (PV), the Glasstech Electric Radiant Heater –
Solar Features (ERH-S™) and the Forced Convection Heater – Solar
Features (FCH-S™) offer the highest productivity flat-glass systems
meeting the very precise flatness specifications required for active
plate and cover plate processing.
Glasstech has engineered the CRB-S as a cost-effective and efficient
means of providing the glass parts needed by the CSP market.
Glasstech’s CRB-S features a forming bed that is 1,700mm by 2,000mm and
processes glass of varying thicknesses, depending on the
surface-strengthening treatment required. The system will form glass
from 1.6mm up to 5.0mm for the specifications and tolerances needed for
solar parabolic trough reflector glass parts. CRB-S systems maintain
characteristics similar to other systems in the CRB family and are able
to form constant radius shapes, J-bends and the shapes needed to comply
with parabolic trough specifications. The CRB-S meets the needs of the
Concentrated Solar Power industry by delivering the tolerances and
repeatability required to produce the large volume of glass parts the
CSP industry will use.
Glasstech’s CRB-S does not use dedicated tooling. It bends glass
using patented, computer-controlled technology. Because of its unique
shape control, glass produced on the CRB-S achieves strict tolerances
and a high degree of shape repeatability. A typical system, configured
to produce parabolic parts, will produce up to 150 parts per hour
dependent upon thickness and size requirements.
The CRB-S’s flexibility is due to its computer-controlled forming.
Shape changes take only minutes. Each section of parabolic reflector
requires distinctly shaped glass parts. Additionally, the CRB-S can
produce low-stress glass for lamination and heat strengthened or fully
tempered glass parts with minimal system changes. To meet the needs of
the PV market for extremely flat glass substrates, Glasstech has
engineered solar glass versions of its gas and electric tempering
systems. The ERH-S is a continuous tempering line featuring Glasstech’s
electric radiant heater.
The system will flat temper high transmission (low-iron) glass for
cover panels and active (coated) glass as well as clear glass for PV
panels. The ERH-S process these glass parts at fast cycle times with
highly accurate perimeter and surface tolerances. For systems that also
will process Low-E glass, an electric convection heater can be selected
as an option. Glasstech’s gas-fired convection heater system, the
FCH-S, also is a continuous flattempering system. The FCH-S requires
less floor space than the ERH-S and achieves the speeds and tolerances
so important to the PV market.
For additional information, please contact your Glasstech representative or Michael Ondrus (mondrus@glasstech.com).
About Glasstech
Glasstech, Inc., based in Perrysburg, Ohio, is the leading, world-class
innovator of highly productive bending and tempering systems used to
supply the worldwide automotive, architectural and solar glass markets.
Glasstech glass bending and tempering systems have become standards for
the efficient fabrication of high-quality glass products.
