How Solar Panels, Glass Bottles, and Fiber Optics Are Made

Ever wondered how glass bottles, solar panels, fiber optics, and more are made? Watch this episode of How It’s Made to discover the fascinating process behind these everyday items!

Glass Bottles

Glass jars and bottles maintain a green color, regardless of their color or clarity. Manufacturers create this eco-friendly packaging without destroying any trees. There are many of natural substances used to make glass.

Glass is infinitely recyclable and requires less energy to produce than plastic or metal. While there are roughly six natural raw elements in the recipe for glass, silica sand, soda ash, and limestone are the key ingredients. Typically, silica sand accounts for roughly 45% of the mixture.

Soda ash aids in the uniform melting of the silica. It makes up roughly 15%. About 10% limestone increases the glass’s final durability.

They mix these components with collet, a recycled glass. The factory’s machinery feeds into a furnace with precise amounts of the materials. The intense heat of 2730 degrees Fahrenheit melts everything together over the course of a full day, creating a sticky liquid with the consistency of honey.

The glass melts and flows out of the furnace. To create cylindrical gobs, shears precisely cut the flow at predetermined intervals. Every gob is precisely the quantity needed to fill a bottle or jar.

They descend to an apparatus known as the scoop. They descend to an apparatus known as the scoop. They fill a mold with a gob of molten glass.

It emerges as a parison, a tiny replica of the finished bottle, in a matter of seconds. Next, the workers place each piece into a blow mold, shaping the finished bottle inside the mold’s cavity. By forcing pressurized air into the parison, the apparatus stretches the glass outward toward the mold cavity’s wall.

This operation hollows out the inside of the bottle and gives it its ultimate form. These are bottles of beer with an amber tint. The glass mixture incorporates tiny amounts of iron, sulfur, and carbon to create the hue.

The plant employs a comparable manufacturing procedure to create several kinds of bottles and jars. The firm is producing 375 milliliter clear glass wine bottles during this run.

A recessed symbol on one wall of this mold, however, creates a raised emblem on the front of the bottle, making it unique. The bottles pass through flames after exiting the manufacturing equipment. If not, heat shock would cause them to cool down too quickly and break.

Now, a loader carefully pushes the bottles into an annealing chamber. As the bottles pass through the lever, they cool at a regulated rate. This gradually relieves the glass of stress.

A sprayer applies lubrication to the bottles’ exteriors as they come out of the annealing oven. They can now proceed through the rest of the inspection and packaging line without incident. Now, the bottles form a single file as they approach the automated inspection station.

Cameras and probes scan each bottle as it spins to look for flaws like bubbles or breaks. After that, the inspection apparatus examines the top to verify the dimensions and ensure correct molding of the screw cap threads. A worker conducts a final visual inspection before shipping.

It is possible for glass to have up to 90% cullet. The factory uses up to 2.5 percent less energy to make glass for every 10% of cullet added to the mix because cullet melts at a lower temperature. That in itself should motivate recycling.

Fiber Optics

Fiber optics carry the words and characters you input on the internet or over the phone all the way to their destination. Hair-thin glass fibers transfer light pulses to carry data and voice. At first, big glass tubes served as the materials for making the fibers.

Workers begin by unwrapping the tubes. After that, they immerse them in a hydrofluoric acid bath to eliminate any remaining oil. Next, they inserted a tube into each leg’s end.

A hydrogen-oxygen flame heats the tubes as they rotate. The glass is almost at its maximum temperature when it turns white. About 3,500 degrees is the point at which the two tubes fuse.

They attached this new, longer tube to a different leg. A traversing burner heats everything as they pump a mixture of chemical gasses inside the spinning tube. They utilize a gas mixture that includes liquid forms of germanium, which is related to tin and used as a semiconductor in transistors and other electronic devices, as well as silicon, a common element in nature.

A white soot forms on the interior of the glass tube because of a chemical reaction that occurs when the gases heat. The heat fuses together the soot to form what will eventually be the optical fiber’s core. The glass tube will form the coating of the fiber itself.

They increase the heat till the soot itself turns into glass after there is an adequate amount of fused soot. After that, they heat the glass tube just enough to cause the fresh glass inside to soften as well. The tube finally collapses on itself to produce a solid rod because of the extreme heat.

The next stage involves thinning out the optical fiber after achieving its internal structure, but it is currently a large, thick rod known as a preform. The preform is first removed from the glass tube’s uncollapsed part. Installing it vertically in the drawing tower will draw out the final shape.

In the drawing tower’s oven, one end of the preform reaches a temperature of 3600 degrees. The glass gets softer. It descends with the aid of gravity, resembling honey dropping off a spoon.

After that, they continue stretching the soft glass until they generate a thin glass fiber by using a glob of glass as a weight. The tension applied a system of pulley measures to the fiber during its drawing. A specialized gauge ensures that the fiber has the exact diameter—five thousandths of an inch.

After that, UV rays expose the fiber, which bakes an acrylic coating on it to keep out dust and other impurities. Lastly, a drum is used to roll the fiber. From here, it’s either placed into a cable or delivered out unaltered.

Although fiber optic cables are more costly to make than conventional copper wires, they are lighter and smaller. They require fewer repeaters to maintain the signal quality and can convey more information. Additionally, they are impervious to electromagnetic interference, unlike copper connections.

It’s also difficult to tap them covertly. And light passing through glass is a very basic fundamental that underlies a complex process that makes all of this possible.

Car Recycling

Ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal are the two categories.

People refer to steel and iron scrap from automobiles as ferrous scrap. Nickel, copper, lead, and aluminum are examples of non-ferrous scrap metal. The best thing about metals is that people can recycle them endlessly without losing any of their qualities.

Every year, North American auto factories manufacture millions of automobiles. They eventually arrive here, at a recycling facility for scrap metal. The recycling facility processes the raw material, primarily old automobiles and appliances, in around two days.

As they gather and stack the raw material, operators of cranes and bulldozers inspect it. Anything that they cannot process, such as glass, propane tanks, or heavy iron that is brittle and could break the machines, is what they are searching for. To examine the substance more thoroughly, an inspector enters the stockpile.

Then it gives the crane operator the all-clear to start working on the next load. The crane’s grapple delivers loads onto a conveyor belt that feeds into a shredder. To feed precisely the proper amount of material into the shredder, the belt speeds up or slows down in response to the material’s weight.

This is a picture of the feed box with the shredder open. Every day, an inspector looks for damage. The daily inspections help identify any damage to this apparatus.

As the material exits the conveyor, a 4,000-pound drum grabs it and pushes it into the shredder. Its enormous hammers tear at the vehicles, beds, and other recyclables, tearing them into pieces the size of fists. The shredder grabs the vehicle as it exits the conveyor and pushes it into the shredder, tearing it into pieces the size of fists with its enormous hammers. Then, an industrial vacuum removes the shredded steel, along with glass or rubber fragments.

These magnetic drums hold the steel parts in place. Everything else tumbles through to a belt conveyor underneath. Here, pickers remove any undesired material that may have become stuck on the steel pieces, and then prepare the clean, shredded steel for delivery to clients, such as foundries and steel mills.

The operators process the material that the magnetic drums do not collect further. Shredded waste contains valuable non-ferrous metals such as brass or copper. The operators place everything inside a trommel, a device that divides material into different sizes using a revolving drum.

Any residue left over is just garbage, but an inspector ensures that nothing important has gotten through before dumping it into a landfill. After equally distributing it onto a conveyor, the trommel sends the material to an apparatus known as an eddy current separator.

In case there are any precious non-ferrous metals remaining, the separator passes any material that fails to pass through the barrier through once again.

A conveyor belt transports the useless leftovers to a trash sheet. The separator removes the non-ferrous metal, and a different conveyor belt feeds it into a bin for sale.

They will send it to a different facility where they will separate the metals—primarily copper, brass, and aluminum. This is what’s left of the typical secondhand car after all that cutting, sorting, and sorting. All you have left is some shredded steel when you remove the plastic, rubber, and upholstery.

Solar Panels

Solar energy appeared like something out of a science fiction book until not too long ago.

However, now is the moment for this clean energy source to take center stage, or perhaps, better put, to receive more sunlight. Solar panels have a bright future. It is possible for the sun to generate power.

Photovoltaic cell-covered panels convert sunlight into power. The silicon crystals gleam at its surface, and the grooves serve as the conductors.

A solar panel is made up of multiple modules that are connected to one another. Next, they coat every module in solder flux. An iron is used to heat the soldering wire.

We set up the modules with unique support. After completing the soldering, we ultrasonically clean the modules in 140-degree water. The immaculately cleaned modules are prepared for assembly once they have dried.

They can now work in groups to solder the modules. Initially, a flux is used to enhance the soldering quality. They assemble four groups of nine modules, each with remarkable skill.

In this manner, they solder and link 36 modules together in series. They need to be treated very carefully.

They check the voltage of every module with a voltmeter.

If an issue arises at this point, repairing a solder connection is simple. They use suction grips to keep the nine rows of modules clean and to facilitate handling if the voltage is sufficient.

We position the modules accordingly. Then, we put this metallic strip in place. It serves as a conductor to connect the four nine-module groups.

They create solder connections to attach the modules to the metallic strip. After that, they applied this clear layer of laminated glass.

The superposition of pieces creates a laminate that increases the panel’s stiffness and solidity. Lastly, we seal the module with a sealing film. Placing the solar panel in a heated oven after removing the air with a vacuum laminates it and makes it stiffer.

For fifteen minutes, the panel will cook at 176 degrees. To continue with the air vacuuming process, the oven hermetically shuts itself again. And this is the completed panel.

Each part cements to the other. They immediately started the test. The solar simulator holds the panel.

We link a voltmeter to the positive and negative contacts of the solar panel. After plugging the simulator into the panel, a strong lamp will illuminate it. To ensure that the panels are supplying the necessary electric current, the technician reads the voltmeter.

This is an assembly of an amorphous silicon-type solar panel, which is a different variety. Manufacturers in Asia and Europe produced the parts. These are the solar panel’s positive and negative connection wires.

We insert the panel into a plastic frame and then cement it into place. After that, we tightly screwed the frame to prevent it from moving. The ABS plastic frame attaches the crystalline silicon modules that make up the solar panel.

It’s now completed. This panel would have taken an hour or so to fabricate. They produce six of them daily here.

Hydroponic Lettuce

You probably assumed that growing lettuce required a garden, even though crops don’t always require soil. If the water provides the right nutrients and fertilizers, they can also grow in it. We refer to that as hydroponics.

Deep pool floating raft technology is the name given to this hydroponic lettuce producing technique. It all begins with the germination area with lettuce seeds, and although it seems hard, it’s actually rather simple. Workers use a steel tray attached to a suction line to plant them.

There are 276 holes in the tray, and a seed is vacuum-sucked into each one. Subsequently, they place an oasis—a foam block with matching holes—onto the tray.

Clay is used to coat the seeds. Besides retaining moisture to support the seed, clay crumbles readily to allow for seed germination. The first soaking of the seedlings occurs en route to the greenhouse.

The worker floats them thereafter. The depth of the water pool is roughly 12 inches. Technicians keep an eye on and adjust the fertilizer and oxygen levels regularly.

That’s the secret to growing hydroponically. Never empty the water—just top it off to replenish what the plants use and evaporate. They give the seeds lots of water on the first day.

In a few days, the seeds will begin to emerge. They fertilize and water them. On the fourth day or thereabouts, there is a noticeable sprouting.

They water and fertilize the plants once again. Around the seventh day of summer and the eleventh day of winter, the first leaves appear. In the winter, the development rate is slowed due to reduced sunlight.

It’s time for the first of several transplants at this point. Employees move the 276-lettuce plants from the oasis to a styrofoam board with 288 more plants. In the nursery area, they put the boards in the water.

The second transplant occurs around the 13-day summer mark, or the 20-day winter mark. This time, we move the plants to a less packed styrofoam board that can house 72 plants. The plants now have more light and space to flourish as a result. To protect the roots, laborers use a hook.

For a plant to receive water and nutrients, its roots must be healthy. The 26th day of summer and the 45th day of winter are when the final transplant takes place. They have replaced the board that held 72 lettuce plants with one that can only accommodate 18.

The plants are more difficult to work with now that their roots are long. The final step before harvesting is for the lettuces to enter the production zone.

This hydroponic system produces almost five times as many plants per square yard compared to lettuce cultivated in the field. It is also safer. Here, fungicides and insecticides are not necessary.

Furthermore, fertilizers cannot damage the environment because they are entirely indoors.

Depending on how this crop will be sold, workers clip off the yellowed leaves at the base and then either cut off the roots or wrap them around the stem. Then, they vacuum-cool each lettuce for an extended shelf life.

Cellulose Insulation

Your house remains warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, thanks to insulation.

Cellulose fiber, which is derived from recycled paper, is one kind of insulating material. Because wood fiber is a natural source, it is non-polluting. It doesn’t release any gases because it doesn’t have formaldehyde, asbestos, or fiberglass.

Cellulose fiber must adhere to stringent government safety regulations, much like other insulating materials. Evaluating smolder resistance involves one fire safety test. The company’s lab weighs a manufacturing line sample.

Then takes out a lit cigarette from inside. The lab weighs the material once again once the cigarette burns out, which usually takes an hour or two. There must be a weight decrease of no more than 15%.

The process used to create cellulose insulation is not extremely complex. First, they make large deliveries of recycled paper. After workers load it onto a conveyor belt, the entire process becomes mechanized.

The primary mixer is the first device that the paper enters. The primary mixer separates the bits that have bunched up, getting them ready for shredding. The machine’s strong magnet extracts paperclips, staples, and other metal objects.

The machine, known as a fiberizer, now shreds the paper into pieces that are only an eighth of an inch long, and then it combines it with additional boric acid. The recycled paper arrives by truck and is used as cellulose fiber insulation within about five minutes. However, before releasing the insulation from the facility, we conducted extensive safety testing.

This test evaluates the property known as open flammability. To simulate the warmth of a roof under a hot sun, they heat the insulation to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. They lit it after that.

The boric acid causes the flame to travel before going out. The insulation is safe if that occurs within a specific range. To validate the company’s test results independently, outside research firms also evaluate the product for safety.

The automated packaging apparatus compresses the fiber into a block while blowing 25 pounds of insulation into a bag. Some companies sell some forms of thermal insulation in the form of bats, which are thick, rectangular blankets. By hand, you install them, making sure they fit tightly between the wall studs.

Batts of cellulose fiber are not available. We call this type of insulation loose-fill.

Insulation will be absorbed by spraying it under pressure. It completely fills the openings, leaving no gaps—something that pre-shaped bats find difficult to accomplish. The term “insulating performance” is R-value. The effectiveness of the insulation increases with the R-value.

In addition to having a greater R-value than loose-fill mineral fiber insulation, cellulose fiber insulation has an R-value that is either higher than fiberglass or the same as loose-fill fiberglass, depending on the statistics you’re looking at. Since cellulose fiber is denser than other materials, it resists air movement more effectively and is therefore less prone to shifting after installation.