Cutting Edge Design and Technology

High quality solar glass success stories

By: Jim Uhlik, Vice President of Technical Services, Toledo Engineering

Introduction

Solar glass, also referred to as photovoltaic (PV) glass, is a key component for converting sunlight into electricity. Glass is an ideal material that increases the efficiency of energy conversion due to its transparency, durability and chemical stability. Solar glass also benefits from the ability to be recyclable in the future.

Prompted by the commitments of multiple countries to achieve their net-zero emission targets, solar glass capacity is growing. Not all solar glass is created equal. Solar technology can only be scalable if the manufacturing process follows the most cost-effective way possible while maintaining quality. With production proven, world class quality and total cost of ownership philosophy, Toledo Engineering Co., Inc. (TECO) supplies two additional high-quality solar glass furnace design, with industry leading Zedtec distributor and forehearths, to an industry leading solar glass producer.

Solar Furnace Basics

The production of low-iron solar glass requires a high quality, long life TECO furnace design that gives the operator different tools for operational flexibility. This includes control of the batch charging pattern, good control of the energy profile and flame oxidation state along the furnace length, longer glass residence times – especially in the refining zone to reach low seed levels - and the elimination of furnace high wear design features, incorporating easy access for refractory maintenance in order to achieve a long campaign life.

Due to its higher radiation transmission level through the glass, a low-iron solar glass melting furnace will experience much higher bottom temperatures, which lowers the bottom glass viscosity and speeds up the critical furnace glass convection loops. If not properly designed for, this will negatively affect the resultant glass quality and furnace wear rate. TECO utilizes multiple Computation Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models to optimize the design and reduce these effects.

A 500 MTD Brownfield – Rolled Solar Glass

February 2023 saw production commence at an international leader in the supply of high quality rolled solar glass with its new 500 MTD TECO furnace feeding a ZEDTEC front end distributor and forehearths. ZEDTEC has previously supplied this producer’s forehearth needs on other smaller furnaces. TECO and ZEDTEC have supplied patterned solar glass producers worldwide for decades. In addition, with the industry’s demand for high quality solar glass ever increasing, many new low-iron glass factories are already in the planning stages.

For this latest solar rolled glass facility, TECO/ZEDTEC also provided technical guidance for commissioning the furnace and forehearths via design calculations, advanced CFD modeling, personnel training and on-site assistance.

A 600 USTPD Greenfield – Float Solar Glass

With TECO top management’s attention to detail and commitment, TECO has also previously supplied low-iron solar glass furnaces to the float glass industry, and entire greenfield factories,

most recently the NSG Group’s 600 TPD greenfield solar float glass plant in Ohio, USA. Site, civil, utilities and building construction was performed by TECO Group company Dreicor, Inc., with engineering and project management supplied by TECO, EAETech and others.

TECO and ZEDTEC solar glass furnaces and forehearths have produced high quality product on every continent in the world except Antarctica and Africa. Ever-increasing acceptance of solar renewables as a primary supply of electricity will only require more demand for such glass.

Conclusion

TECO is the recognized world-wide leader in design, engineering and project management for flat glass production, whether it be float or rolled glass as can be seen once again by these two most recent success stories, above. TECO supplies "the value proposition" and we believe that the highest-quality design, systems, and production proven materials, when engineered together with our customer, combine to offer the best total solution of optimized glass quality, pack rate ease of operation and long campaign length.