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said that the adhesives eliminated the need for expensive curing lines. Within just a few minutes, according to Scheidler, the collectors can be stacked on pallets.

Forming bonds
Adhesives are becoming increasingly important in collector production. SUN & WIND ENERGY explains why and introduces adhesives providers.

Collector manufacturers prefer adhesive technology

More and more collector manufacturers in the German-speaking region are producing bonded collectors, according to a market survey by SUN & WIND ENERGY. According to the survey, adhesive technology has established itself as the most frequently used method of attaching the sides of collectors with frames. As recently as 2008, collector manufacturers still preferred mechanical shaping techniques, such as clinching. Adhesive processes now dominate, even for attaching glass covers. While three years ago 62 % of all solar collectors sold in Germany were sealed around their edges with an EPDM seal and had glass covers clamped on with rails, now more than half of all solar collectors have glass covers bonded to their frames with adhesive, which also keeps out moisture. The transition to new joining techniques is no accident. Compared with mechanical joining systems, automation with liquid adhesives is simpler and easier, says Sebastian Terner, explaining why adhesives are increasingly being used in automated collector production. The sales professional works at sealant and adhesives manufacturer Hermann Otto GmbH in Fridolfing, Germany. The company has been supplying adhesives to collector manufacturers for ten years. This year, the firm intensified its marketing efforts and produced a brochure in English called High-quality connections for solar collectors, which provides an overview of its solar thermal adhesives. The companys product line includes silicones for bonding glass plates and a polyurethane for bonding plastic caps to the corners of collectors.

Bonded joints do not require mechanical protection and therefore do not need a covering rail.
Graphic: Tremco Illbruck

The bonding effect between the adhesive and the frame allows for new designs.

dhesives are suitable for bonding pieces together. This year, more than ever, adhesives manufacturers have sought to form bonds with solar thermal companies. In May, Dow Corning GmbH of Wiesbaden and Kmmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH of Pirmasens two firms with long years of experience in adhesives applications made their first appearance at the OTTI Symposium in Bad Staffelstein, Germany. In June, Tremco illbruck GmbH & Co. of Cologne rented its first-ever stand at Intersolar Europe in Munich. In solar thermal Hall B1, the company presented its Pactan-brand adhesive sealants. In 2009, the company began adapting these adhesives to collector production. Our single component adhesive sealants have a broad adhesive spectrum and are suitable for bonding a collectors glass to its frame or to bond the back wall of the collector. They bond quickly and can withstand temperatures of up to 160 C, says Key Account Manager Volker Scheidler, explaining the properties of the solar thermal adhesives. By contrast, the firms two-component solar silicones are characterised by short curing times, enabling throughput rates of less than 90 seconds, according to Scheidler. He

Adhesives enable slim collector designs

In addition to their suitability for automation, bonded connections also have other benefits. Unlike a dry seal with a clamp rail, joining with an adhesive gives you a proper bond. This bonding effect opens up

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completely different structural possibilities for collector manufacturers. They can make collectors really slim because, of course, the glass also contributes to the stability of the joint, explains Dow Corning Marketing Manager Markus Plettau. The elastic bond with highly adhesive silicone creates a joint between the glass and the frame along the entire perimeter which absorbs and compensates for movement, preventing penetration by air and water. Mechanical fastenings for the glass are generally unnecessary. Dow Corning transferred its knowledge from the area of bonded faade construction to solar thermal more than 15 years ago. No mechanical cover is needed in addition to the slim, bonded joint which enables maximum use of the glass absorber surface. This can offer cost benefits, in addition to aesthetics and performance. In short, this structural adhesive technology enables innovative, hard wearing, and delicate construction, the company wrote in its portrait in the OTTI association conference proceedings. The bonded collectors just look great, says Plettau in an interview. Silicone adhesives are optimally suited to the demands of solar collectors. Silicones belong to the synthetic polymers group, in which silicone atoms are bonded together via oxygen atoms. The inorganic latticework, with its organic components creates

Polyurethane is used for bonding plastic caps to the corners of collectors.

Photos (4): Otto Chemie

SMEThermal conference: focus on production

Those who would like to find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of adhesives and discuss them with other experts from the industry will be provided with the opportunity to do so at the international SMEThermal conference, the only event that focuses on solar thermal production technology. Additional focus areas include: potential for cutting costs throughout the entire value added chain, the implementation of the Eco Design directive in the industry, quality of metal and glass coatings, global collector certification and design and production of polymer storage tanks. The event will take place on 7th February 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The conference, which is being organised by SUN & WIND ENERGY in conjunction with Solarpraxis AG from Berlin, will be held in English.
Further information: www.solarpraxis.de/en/conferences/smethermal-2012

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sives; they also provide advice to their clients. For instance, Dow Corning performs adhesion and compatibility tests for various substrates on request. Providers also offer their customers support in the construction and testing of collector designs or in calculating joint dimensions, based on anticipated temperatures, as well as dynamic and static loads. The mixture of adhesive and process is key. Adapting automation and dosing equipment to the adhesive and customer is very important, says Hermann Otto employee Terner. However, adapting the adhesive to the collector design, joint geometry, and manufacturing process is not enough to ensure that the glass plate stays glued to the collector frame. Dow Corning manager Plettau underscores the importance of constant production monitoring, Even if collector manufacturers ultimately have the process under control, they have to keep one very essential point in mind: quality assurance in the application of the adhesive, he says. The international adhesives producer Sika AG recommends that its customers perform running tests to check both the quality of the adhesive mixture and that of the bonded products. For instance, the company advises collector manufacturers using two-part adhesives to check the mixture ratio of the two components coming out of the dosing unit every day before they start production or when changing a drum. Also, the two components have to mix as homogeneously as possible in order to provide optimum adhesion. Sika also recommends a special test for just that purpose. Finally, various pull-off tests can be used to determine adhesion that is, both the strength of the bond and its adhesive force which is particularly recommended for bonds with complex geometries. Such testing shows whether the adhesive fills the entire joint. Checking the adhesive takes on even greater importance if something changes in the manufacturing process. The main issue is when a collector manufacturer changes a material or material supplier, or alters the manufacturing process in some way. What can happen then is that the bonding process might stop working properly, says Tremco illbruck manager Scheidler. His companys products offer process security because the A-components are made to be self-hardening. That ensures that the adhesive works,

A robot bonds the back wall of a collector at the firm Citrin in Moosburg, Germany.
Photo: Joachim Berner

properties which benefit the solar thermal industry. Their structure enables them to resist both UV radiation and weathering. They hold their bond at low and high temperatures. Their high elasticity enables them to bond different materials together and compensate for their different coefficients of expansion. In short, they bond best to glass, aluminium and steel, all materials that collector manufacturers use for the cover, frame components, and back wall.

Adhesive types and different curing times

The properties of silicones have to suit the process speed of collector manufacturers, which is why most adhesives manufacturers offer both one-part and two-part systems in their product ranges. One-part adhesives consist of a single component and require moisture from the air in order to cure. Therefore, the time it takes for them to cure is dependent on external climate conditions. Depending on the depth of the joint, curing can take up to a day. One-part adhesives are well suited to manual production steps because they can be applied by hand without great haste. The two-part products work faster. They comprise an adhesive and a curing agent, which accelerates the process. The two-part adhesives make manufacturers independent of the climate in their production halls because the adhesives do not need moisture from the air to polymerize. The reaction begins as soon as their two components are mixed. With twocomponent adhesives, the pot life the handling time in which the mixture can be used can be adjusted in a range, from half an hour to just a few minutes, enabling adaptation to semi- or fully automated production processes.

No adhesion without adaptation and controls

Adjusting the curing time requires a good bit of specialised knowledge. Most adhesives manufacturers therefore offer not only drums and tanks of adhe-

Pull-off testing equipment tests adhesion.

Photo: Sika Services AG

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The right adhesive in the right place

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA created a graphic to illustrate where adhesives can be used in solar collectors. The red indicates where adhesives can be applied. For instance, between the glass cover and the collector frame, on the corners of the collector, or on the back wall. The Dsseldorf adhesives manufacturer offers products for each application. Loctite silicone adhesives offer good protection for the glass cover against weather effects for temperatures up to 180 C, for instance. With handling times of up to three minutes and workability after just five minutes, they are well suited to fast production processes. The polyurethane adhesive Macroplast for corner joints has handling times of 10 and 45 minutes and forms a stable bond after some 40 minutes. It is temperature resistant from -40 to 80 C, but Henkel also offers two other Loctite products for the very high temperatures inside of collectors. The high-temperature products can withstand temperatures of up to 300 C, which means they can be used to bond liquid-carrying tubes to an absorber plate.

even if the dosing ratio of the two adhesive components is off by a bit.

Filling joints uniformly

Adhesives development continues. Some manufacturers are developing so-called self-leveling adhesives. They can fill the joints of a solar collector evenly, even if its geometry deviates from the desired value due to unevenness of the material. In such cases, automatic bonding techniques using standard products could apply either too little or too much adhesive to the joint. Too little adhesive can produce a visual fault and require excessive finishing work. Workers have to remove excess adhesive by hand. Kmmerling offers the solar thermal industry a bonding agent it has never had before, butyl adhesive. If a collector is permanently filled with gas, a silicone sealant is inadequate. To meet this more demanding requirement, additional measures are needed to seal the collector, says Product Manager Frank Simon. That is why Kmmerling made its butyls for solar collector edge seals gas and water tight and heat resistant to temperatures in excess of 100 C. Furthermore, we added an agent which chemically bonds to the glass, which means that even if the adhesives get a bit soft or are moved by the glass, they remain intact.
Joachim Berner Providers of silicones for collector production: Dow Corning GmbH: www.dowcorning.com Henkel AG & Co. KGaA: www.henkel.com Hermann Otto GmbH: www.otto-chemie.com Kmmerling Chemische Fabrik GmbH: www.koe-chemie.de Sika AG: www.sika.com Tremco illbruck GmbH & Co. KG: www.tremco-illbruck.com

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