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Macro Engineering, Mississauga, Ont., has developed a new extrusion line specifically for photovoltaic (PV) sheet. This line, which produces the encapsulant material used in the assembly of solar modules, features the machine builder’s patent-pending extrusion technology that reduces shrinkage in the final sheet to below 2%, which Macro claims is the lowest on the market. Reduced shrinkage leads to significantly greater yields, as less material goes to waste during solar module manufacture.

The line can produce encapsulation sheet of EVA, PE, PVB, or TPU. The technology can also be applied to other applications where low shrinkage is required, such as rigid sheet and lamination films. Macro claims the line is optimized for simplicity by avoiding use of a carrier web and incorporating a two-sided embossing option that allows the sheet to be wound without the need of an interleaved web. The line is completed by fully automatic winding with zero-waste, straight-edge cutovers that create jumbo rolls up to 1-meter diam.