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Ver 1.0 (May 2010)

RFID in PV Manufacturing Industry

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National Solar Mission: “We need to evolve a comprehensive renewable energy policy for energy independence within a year.....Energy independence has to be our nation’s first and highest priority. We must be determined to achieve this within the next 25 years”

-- Honorable President of India,

Shri. APJ Abdul Kalam

Challenges faced by the PV manufacturing Industry Ø Comply the Govt. regulatory standard for PV module.  Ø Penalties for delays resulting from downtimes of the

production.  Ø Cost of recalling or replacement of PV throughout 25

years of its lifecycle.  Ø Efficient way to manage the shipment and electronic

delivery proof.  

Monitoring the parts flow in a PV Cell & Module manufacturing industry time-wise and location-wise is very critical for productivity, cost, quality, inventory & speed. The “National Solar Mission (Nov. 2009)” guideline by Govt. of India, the domestics market for PV manufacturing industry has shown an exponential growth projection. Even Govt. is trying to regulate RFID tagging (to store its electrical, environmental, standard and unique identity) for each of its panel which will be used under the mission to keep its accountability, authenticity & performance measurement to achieve the missions to great success. PV material movement along the factory and in warehouses is a complex operation requiring a perfect symphony between information technology enablers and human judgment in terms of quality. Material tracking (silicon, ingots, cell, module) at multiple levels is important from the overall supply chain and quality process efficiency of any organization. Seamlessness is desired in tasks that require multiple hand-offs either from one system to another or from one area in the factory to another. It is here that the most of the slippage and revenue leakage occurs.  Increase profitability and maintain the lowest possible logistical cost during PV manufacturing will be the most challenging task & will give win-win those who will able adopt/adjust IT technology. RFID technology promises to improve a broad range of processes in logistics and WIP in manufacturing of PV industry. RFID allows better monitoring of the PV manufacturing processes with expedient raw material flow and more effective planning and control. It helps in monitoring where and when a part is located throughout its flow shop in its production process. The key features that separate RFID technology from its competing partners such as optical barcodes are non-line-of-sight tag reading.

NVVN    (Na%onal  

Vidyut  Vyapar  Nigam  Ltd)  

PV  Manufacturer  

 Govt.  

Plant  Owner  

National Solar Mission Framework

To ensure the success of National Solar Mission, both the stakeholders under the mission have to work in tightly couple mode. Each player has his own responsibility and need to monitor and maintain in better ways.

What is RFID

RFID enables wireless data capture and transaction processing. RFID is an automatic identification method which relies on storing and retrieving remote data on/from devices called as Transponders or RFID Tags. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the technology that has revolutionized the way identification and tracking of items is carried out. Data is stored on a chip called RFID tag which can be attached to the PV cell and module which can be “read” by wireless devices called RFID readers. RFID system comprises of three components 1. RF ID transponder or RF ID tag (which will be placed in each PV module) 2. RFID Writer/Reader (will be used to write all the PV characteristics in RFID tags) 3. RFID Handheld (can be used for onsite regular monitor & its maintenance)

Why RFID

Conceptually, bar coding and RFID are quite similar; both are intended to provide rapid and reliable item identification-and-tracking capabilities but they are different in many ways.

Parameters Bar Code RFID Line of sight √ X Reading multiple tags

X √

Cope with dirty & harsh environment

X √

Extra memory for storing relevant data

X √

Read & write capacity X √ Possibility of automatic tracking

X √

Table 1.0: Barcode Vs RFID technology comparative matrix table

How RFID Technology Works

• The antenna emits radio signals to activate the UHF passive tags (without battery) and to read and write data to it.

• The reader emits radio waves, depending upon its power output and the radio frequency used. When an RFID UHF passive tag passes through the electromagnetic zone, it detects the reader's activation signal.

• The reader decodes the data encoded in the tag's integrated circuit (silicon chip) and the data is passed to the host computer for processing.

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Different RFID Technology Matrix:

Technology /Ability

HF Technology (13.56 MHz)

UHF Technology (860-960 MHz)

Active Technology (2.45 GHz/433MHz)

Application Access Control, Laundry Tagging, Library Management

SCM, Inventory Management, Health Care, Aviation, Retail, Transportation

Health Care, RTLS

Multiple Tag Read

Slow(2-5 tags/Sec) Faster(20 to 100 tags/Sec)

Faster(10-20 tags/Sec)

Tag Power Power Less Power Less Battery Power Standards ISO 15693,14443

A/B EPC C1G1/C1G2/18000-6A,B,C

No such standards

Tag Form Factor

Small Small Big

Maintenance Not Required Not Required Required Read Range Very Low(10 Cm) Good Range(2-4M) High Range(20 M)

Units Cost Labels

Low( $) Very Low(few cents) Very High(few $)

Table 2.0: Different RFID technology comparative matrix table

Currently, there are several technologies/frequencies are used in RFID as above given in comparative matrix table 2.0.Looking after the derivative parameters (like passive, maintenance free & lowest cost) UHF EPC Gen2 is recommended to use in Solar Power Plants for tracking and operation management.

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“We will pool all our scientific, technical & managerial talents, with financial source, to develop solar energy as a source of abundant energy to power our economy and to transform the lives of our people,”

-- Honorable Prime Minister of India,

Shri. Manmohan Singh

How PV Module and Cell Manufacturer can use RFID:

(Image taken from Solar Semiconductor)

PV data writing process in RFID Tag:

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Tabber  &  Stringer   Automa%on     RFID  tagging  

&  Lamina%ng   Frameing  

Sun  Simula%on  

Other  Tes%ng   QC    Control   QC  data  in  

RFID  tags  

The PV manufacturing industry is very much automated and it undergoes several processes to get a finished product. RFID tags will be in the form of adhesive labels (lifespan of 10,000 times write) which can be read/write with the RFID reader/writer station. RFID tags can be embedded in solar panels during PV manufacturing processes in two ways. Case 1 (embedding the tags inside PV): RFID tag is embedded in solar panel during the lamination process. PV characteristics (like Electrical, mechanical, Environmental, Certification etc) are written inside the tag after QC (Quality Control) process. Case2 (embedding the tags outside PV): RFID tag is attached to the solar panel externally after Quality Control process.

Benefits of RFID in PV Industry:

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Advantage of PV Manufacturer: Ø Item-level visibility across manufacturing and distribution operations can help to track location

& quantity of the parts at each stage and the arising bottlenecks can be detected & resolved immediately.

Ø A modest ROI and positive business benefits in a typical manufacturing and distribution supply chain.

Ø Reducing payouts for recalled or returned product. Ø Reducing lost product and sales from shipping errors. Ø Reconciling invalid order claims or chargeback’s. Ø Reducing lost sales from stock-outs. Ø Reducing inventory shrinkage. Ø It is easy to track the expiry date of the product which will reduce the losses. Ø Reducing inventory levels and associated holding costs. Ø Arrival and departure times of a part in a workstation can be recorded automatically. Ø Due to real time application problems rising in the production floor can be easily

detected & resolved. Ø Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN) data improves receipt accuracy.

Advantage for Solar Power Plant Stakeholder: Stakeholders need to closely work together to roll out the challenges & to implement the ambitious goals of the mission successfully. Ø Comply all the regulatory policy of central govt. of using solar PV module. Ø Pilferage of the solar panels can be controlled. Ø Increasing the plant production efficiency. Ø Fast replace/ relocate the low efficient panel. Ø Better preventive measurement & maintenance. Ø Tracking panel efficiency throughout its life cycle (25 years).

Advantage for Policy Maker:

Ø Thoroughly keep view on the mission performance progress. Ø Giving a better standards & system design to the entire stakeholder under the mission. Ø Keeping the PV panel authenticity from gray market.

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The Business Value of RFID in PV Industry:

Business value of RFID

Above flow chart explains how RFID will bring business value in the market by improving efficiency, cut costs & boosts sales.

Why you should select IAITO Infotech as your partner

• We understand the RFID Technology, Solution and have knowledge of the

Industry with the top Notch IIT Kanpur R&D engineers who are having more than 5+ years experience in the same domain.

• Our understanding about the RFID Business Values & ROI Realization is with

15+ years experience business people in team.

• We provide High Quality Product & Testing process (ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Company).

• We Have High Techno Commercial viability – ROI.

• Indigenous Setup (Design, Developed & Tested in world class RFID lab of IIT

Kanpur).

• We have Local Support & Strong Partner Network Framework to ensure better support.

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Increase  Shareholder    Value  

Increase  Revenue  

Increase  Market  Intelligence  

Increase  Market  Share  

Increase  Volume  

Increase  Opera%ng                                      Income   Reduce  Cost  of  Goods  

Sold  

Reduce  Opera%ng  Cost  

Increase  Capital  Efficiency   Increased  Fixed  Capital  

Turnover  

Increase  Working  Capital  Turnover  

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Company Profile

About IAITO INFOTECH PVT LTD (ISO 9001:2008 certified) an incubate company of IIT Kanpur provides state of the art integrated traceability, identification and authentication solution. It provides software as well as integrated turnkey solution of both(hardware, software & services) in various technologies like RFID, NFC, GPS, Mobile technologies etc. With the knowledge of experienced professional, we are able to help you to deploy right combination of technology that will maximize your ROI right from start and ensure its expandability as the application grow through the evolution of the technology. With our R & D experienced team, we have developed different integrated solutions for various industries and carry one of the most comprehensive product/solutions. IAITO’s turnkey solutions model covers industries like Aviation, Manufacturing, Transportation, Retail, Government, Renewable Energy, BFSI and Mining. For more Information kindly visit our website http://www.iaito.co.in/ IAITO INFOTECH (P) Ltd. LIG 124, Maharshi Dayanand Vihar, Phase 2, Kalyanpur, Kanpur- 208017 Phone: +91-5122570357 E-Mail: info@iaito.co.in Web: http://www.iaito.co.in

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