Made in Ukraine: How to make solar panels for households in Odessa

 

 Alternative energy is increasingly entering our lives. Today, almost everyone can install a solar panel on the roof of their private house, and almost everyone can install a wind turbine in their backyard. The state is also meeting new technologies. The market for alternative energy was fully opened to citizens in 2015, when lawmakers allowed individuals to sell surplus electricity generated by solar panels to the general grid. For each kilowatt / hour "Odesaoblenergo" will pay you 5 hryvnias 82 kopecks. Components for generating clean energy from foreign manufacturers are becoming increasingly available. Moreover, Ukrainians themselves are gradually mastering high-tech production.

Dumska has searched for an Odessa-based company that has been assembling solar panels for a year and a half, successfully competing with foreign, primarily Chinese, competitors. Transmitted by the National Industrial Portal, with reference to the "Duma".

The company occupies one of the shops of the plant "Industrial Communications" on Cosmonaut Komarov. Telecommunication equipment used to be made here, but now most of the premises are rented out. The ideological inspirer of production and part-time director of the enterprise Roman Tulyulyuk is a certified historian. Founded in 2009, Info-Svyaz initially produced fiber-optic switching cables (passive) for Internet communications. In 2013, Roman decided to change direction and switched to the production of solar panels.

According to the company's chief engineer, a graduate of Odessa Polytechnic Victor Lazarenko, the market research took three and a half years and half a quintal of damaged FEPs (photoelectric converters).

    We acted like everyone who starts their own business: we went to thematic exhibitions, introduced ourselves as buyers, visited foreign productions, - Victor remembers. - The test batch was soldered by hand, and while creating a special soldering machine, almost 50 kg of converters were broken.

The production of panels that process star radiation into acceptable for our home appliances electron fluxes, at first glance, is simple. Only four permanent staff members cope with the work.

Mykhailo Livshyts is a man of retirement age, a former businessman, who operates a machine created from scratch by Roman and Viktor. Mikhail makes sure that the mechanical hand correctly places the FEPs (blue plates less than a millimeter thick) on the conveyor line. The machine, the program for which was written by Odessa IT specialists, solders copper-tinned tires to collect the generated electricity on top of the converters. For three on one plate.

Each soldered FEP is carefully inspected for defects: they are so fragile that the worker carries them not by hand, but with the help of special vacuum suction cups, six pieces at a time. Next, the finished transducers are laid out on hot glass, covered with glue, then dielectric - plastic or glass plate. The resulting "cake" for 10 minutes baked in a special oven at a temperature of 200 degrees.

    The first two furnaces simply formed through a vacuum, - the chief engineer remembers. - It is needed to remove air from the panels, which can lead to corrosion. In total, we destroyed five tons of metal on the experimental models. But now we have two furnaces.

The finished plate is checked on a special stand equipped with halogen lamps. The future sun trap should show the normative power values. Depending on the FEPs used, a standard panel measuring one meter by sixty can emit from 260 to 315 watts. The optimal price-power ratio is 275 watts.

1 of 16

Now the production is able to produce up to 25 standard panels per day.

    We are in the process of upgrading the equipment. After updating the production line and additional process automation, we will be able to assemble up to 100 products a day, - says the chief engineer.

According to Victor, the company managed to achieve a lower retail price than Chinese manufacturers, but to fight with large wholesale is almost impossible. The plan is to organize its own production of photovoltaic converters, so as not to depend on foreign suppliers and the mood of the Ukrainian customs.

    At a panel cost of $ 130, the installation of the maximum allowed 30 kW for an individual will pay off in four to five years, even though you will stop paying for electricity completely, - says Victor. - To be profitable, you need at least 10 kW - that's about 70 square meters. You will consume five kW and you will be able to sell the same amount online.

In addition to making panels, Info-Svyazok is actively assembling its products and constantly experimenting. For example, the assembly of a tracking system with an area of ​​210 square meters is nearing completion near Kyiv. The rotating mechanism of the giant solar panel is able to monitor the position of the sun and accompany it across the sky. According to preliminary estimates, this will increase the amount of electricity generated by almost 30%.

Another know-how of Odessa residents is plastic panels. Experimental samples were in