Background
Solarex makes solar power generators for applications where alternatives aren’t practical... power for marine navigational lights, highway signs, remote signal relay stations, etc... Inside the solar panels, there are thin (1/16”) silicon wafers which are doing the actual power conversion.Problem
The process for making the silicon wafers is as follows: 1) cast silicon into a solid 5” x 8” x 16” block 2) glue the silicon block to a metal fixture plate 3) mount the fixtured silicon block into a special cutting machine 4) a high speed wire, coated with an abrasive slurry, slices the silicon block into the wafers stopping just short of cutting all the way through 5) the sliced block gets cleaned and 6) the wafers get snapped-off. Before cleaning, the silicon block is filthy with abrasive slurry. Solarex was letting the part soak in solvent for a day and then starting over with new solvent to get adequate cleaning.
 Solution
Make a fixture that can hold four (4) metal plate/silicon block assemblies. The plates slide into UHMW runners with the silicone block hanging down (in the top of the picture you can see a metal plate without the silicon block). Cleaning solution is sprayed from both sides to blow-out the slurry from in between the thin wafers.
System
Stainless steel F-3000-P with an ARC-11 rinse cycle. An ILF-22 micron filter traps the abrasive particles that are suspended in solution.
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