Piscataway, NJ • EPV Solar, Inc. is on the very forefront of solar panel technology. In fact, the Robbinsonville, NJ-based company positions itself as being, “Ahead of the Horizon,” and recently won New Jersey’s Clean Energy Manufacturer of the Year Award. It also uses a blasting medium from Kramer Industries as part of its proprietary manufacturing process.
According to production manager Dan Mentel, EPV Solar’s Integrated Manufacturing System (“IMS”) is based on the company’s commercially proven batch manufacturing process, and one step in the process is blasting away a clean edge on the surface of each solar module using aluminum oxide from Kramer Industries. “After we deposit silicone on our glass panels, and prior to their encapsulation, a 10mm edge needs to be blasted clean,” explained Mentel. “The process is called ‘edge isolation,’ and we’ve found the aluminum oxide granulates we purchase from Kramer to be ideal for this step in our process.”
Steven Schneider, sales manager of Kramer Industries, said his company was pleased to be a contributing factor in an emerging technology that holds so much promise for the future of renewable energy.
Said Schneider, “Here is a privately-held company in the USA, fulfilling the new promise of the American dream. The success of EPV Solar is bound to inspire the recently renewed entrepreneurial spirit in this country, and we at Kramer Industries are happy to be just a small part of that success.”
As the leading supplier of tumbling and blasting media and equipment, Kramer Industries is often called upon by manufactures for advice on how to best use their blasting media to facilitate various production processes. The blasting media offered by Kramer includes crushed glass, glass beads, plastic grit, pumice, silicon carbide, steel grit, steel shot, walnut shell grit, corn cob grit, and oxide, as well as aluminum oxide and white aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide is harder than most common dry abrasive blast media and is capable of cutting even the surfaces.
EPV Solar, Inc. designs, manufacturers, and now markets thin-film amorphous silicon solar modules around the world, and has been at the forefront of thin-film photovoltaic technology since 1991.
“We are significantly expanding our worldwide manufacturing capabilities,” said Dan Mentel. “As you might imagine, there had been an unprecedented global demand for our modules, and we expect nothing but continued growth for decades.”