Solar Panel Automation
Camshaft were approached by a client to do a feasibility study and make suggestions on how it would be possible to design an ultra low cost, highly flexible and very reliable automation system to allow solar panels to be produced without the use of manual labour.
At that time most of the production equipment to produce the panels did not physically exist and in was all going to be custom so it was not possible to get detailed specifications as it was in some case still just a concept.
Interfacing to it was going to be tricky given the infancy of the hardware. We turned this around and saw it could give us significant opportunities.
Camshaft mapped out an initial concept for the client who was excited by the simplicity of the design and after initial discussions Camshaft was commissioned to build a set of prototype hardware. We also mapped out simple hardware and software interfaces that would allow complete flexibility for the future and yet ensure we could be highly flexible. We were early enough in the process to get this spec adopted for all the production line hardware under development.
What the client said
At OptiSolar, we needed a high volume, low cost automation solution with excellent up-time. Traditional automation was too complex, too expensive and too prone to frequent failure. Camshaft developed an elegant and very simple approach that has worked flawlessly. We have tested the automation to over 25 million cycles without failure. We appreciate the high quality design, the extensive testing and the excellent results that Camshaft has delivered for us.
Marvin Keshner, Marvin Keshner Co-founder of OptiSolar
