Emil Otto takes part in Intersolar Europe for the first time

The company will present there a total of 17 fluxes for soldering solar modules, tabber and stringer materials and connecting cells, as well as cleaning agents.

"The manufacture of solar modules has become a lucrative market segment for our company, alongside the electronics industry and metalworking sectors. For this reason, we have been offering fluxes manufactured specifically for the solar industry for years, as we believe that the individual fluxes must be precisely matched to the industries and application areas. Fluxes that have already been on the market for 20 or 30 years no longer meet the modern production and process requirements in the manufacture of solar modules," explains Markus Geßner, Marketing and Sales Manager at Emil Otto GmbH.

The individual processes are not comparable with those in the electronics industry. Although the flux is applied by spraying and dipping, the manufacturing equipment in solar cell production sometimes has different configurations and specifications. The heating systems for preheating, in particular, which are not comparable to those in the electronics industry, do not allow the use of purely water-based fluxes, for example. "As far as I know, we are the only manufacturer that has fluxes with extremely high water content for the production of solar modules in its range. In some cases, we have been able to significantly reduce the alcohol content in individual products. These are hybrid fluxes with an alcohol content of 75% to 15%. The last mentioned do not fall under the category of hazardous goods, which is probably unique," explains Geßner. Hybrid fluxes include the recently introduced EO-S-011, -012, -015 and -017 fluxes, some of which have a low alcohol content of just 15%, with drying properties comparable to pure alcohol-based fluxes.

13 of the 17 fluxes are formulated on an alcohol basis and can be offered by Emil Otto as concentrates. These are packaged in reduced volumes and shipped worldwide. As they also do not have to be declared as hazardous goods, transport costs are reduced. On site, the customer can produce the flux fresh himself. The concentrates usually have a shelf life of 24 months. The ready-mixed fluxes can be used for at least 12 months and in some cases even 24 months. For the reliable removal of flux residues in production equipment, Emil Otto also offers the efficient and gentle cleaning agents Etimol SEM 12 RAA and EO-RA-V.

Emil Otto will present its entire product portfolio for the solar industry to the trade public from June 14-16, 2023, at Intersolar Europe at the Munich Exhibition Center.