Customers in this case are from the solar cell drying and sintering furnace equipment industry. This article elaborates on the application of Decowell I/O modules in the photovoltaic industry in detail.

In this case, the Siemens 1200PLC master station is adopted, and the Decowell EX-1110 serves as a remote IO (PROFINET) slave station, along with digital input modules, digital output modules, and temperature acquisition modules (thermocouples).

The EX series modules of Decowell are compact, occupying little space, highly expandable, rich in supported model types, and have high-quality after-sales services. The customers' technical support requirements can be responded to promptly.

• Industry Technology

A sintering furnace is a specialized equipment that enables powder compacts to obtain the required physical, and mechanical properties and microstructure through sintering. The sintering furnace is used to dry the slurry on the silicon wafer, remove the organic components in the slurry, and complete the sintering of the aluminum back-field and grid lines.

The technological requirements for silicon wafers are extremely stringent. The front side of a solar-cell silicon wafer is coated with silver paste, while the back side is coated with aluminum paste. The processing technology demands that the silver paste and aluminum paste on the solar-cell silicon wafer be dried and sintered simultaneously. In this process, the ambient temperature needs to be collected. The temperature in the furnace is tested using a temperature module, and then the temperature is controlled through PID regulation.

• Module Application

The Decowell EX-4654, which is a four-channel thermocouple module, supports K, J, S, R, T, E, and C-type sensors, providing stable temperature signal acquisition on-site. In addition, the digital input module collects signals from magnetic switches and photoelectric switches. The digital output module controls relays and contactors and then controls the start-up and stop of motors, providing customers with absolute stability and a high-efficiency guarantee.

• Network Topology Diagram

• Decowell EX Series Remote I/O

Product Features: 

 1. Stable communication, fast response, convenient operation, and high efficiency; 

2. Rich in bus protocols, supporting multiple communication protocols, such as EtherCAT, PROFINET, DeviceNet, CC-Link, EtherNet/IP, Modbus - RTU, CC-Link IEF Basic, etc.; 

3. Rich in signal types, and capable of meeting factory automation and process automation control requirements. It supports digital, analog, temperature modules, encoder modules, and free communication modules; 

4. Compact structure with small-sized modules. A single I/O module can support a maximum of 32 digital signal points; 

5. Strong expansion capability. A single adapter can expand up to 32 I/O modules at most, and the coupler has a fast scanning speed; 6. Simple and easy to use. Standard DIN35 rail-mounted installation, direct-plug terminals, and tool-free installation.