In recent years, renewable energy and sustainability have gained traction. The United States is poised for a solar industry boom, as it is a leading contender for reducing carbon emissions. Solar modules and associated components are considered premium products due to their intricate, high-quality materials, and these components need secure packaging. However, it is equally important to avoid excessive packaging materials because it wastes money and negatively impacts the environment that solar energy promises to protect.
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UFP Packaging specializes in solar packaging and knows the industry on a global scale. Applying that knowledge and experience, we will partner with you to understand your company’s unique packaging needs and develop custom solutions to address them. By choosing the right packaging, you will protect your products, uphold your reputation, and contribute to a healthier planet.
In this guide, we will introduce you to our line of products tailored specifically for the solar industry. Like everything we produce, the products in this guide have been optimized for protection, cost efficiency, and sustainability.
Our custom pallets are tailored to your needs, optimizing costs, minimizing damage, and enhancing unit loads. We offer a wide range of traditional and proprietary designs tailored for wholesale distribution in the precision-driven solar industry. Our experienced team utilizes a state-of-the-art facility to create ideal pallet solutions, including Custom, CP, GMA Standard, Winged, Flush, ISPM-15, Stringer, and Block pallets. Learn about our proprietary solar pallet, the Solster, below.
Created with the solar industry in mind -- the Solster ensures the safe transport of solar modules while optimizing efficiency. With an enhanced pallet design featuring two additional nail-plated stringers, the Solster pallet base minimizes deflection within the unit load. Without these design enhancements, the weight and stiffness of the product and pallet interaction can increase the pressure from the unit load and material handling transfers through the pallet base and into the modules themselves, inducing damage like micro cracks. The added reinforcement of the Solster eliminates this concern and allows for larger unit loads.
The Solster pallet base is not a standalone solution, as packaging engineers know; it is not one packaging component that solves a problem. The solution is achieved when the entirety of the packaging materials work together efficiently to achieve the goal.
The Solster pallet base offers a certified result when paired with protective packaging components including stretch film, corrugate, corner protectors, and module spacers. Each of these components plays an integral role in keeping modules protected. Stretch film and corner protectors minimize product movement, corrugated sleeves and caps offer branding opportunities, and rubber spacers prevent module damage by maintaining support away from their centers.
As a comprehensive packaging solutions provider, we offer a total packaging solution comprising all necessary protective packaging elements, ensuring maximum protection of your solar modules. Enjoy cost savings while improving production time, customer satisfaction, and product and employee safety with the Solster pallet.
Our custom crates are made from a variety of materials such as wood, steel, plastic, and precision-cut foam. They are designed to effectively transport and protect your solar products under a variety of conditions. Complementing our custom crates are our proprietary crating solutions, including Strip Pak®, Clamp-Lock 100, and U-Loc 200. Learn more about these innovative options below.
Strip Pak is a sustainable crating solution that packs big value. Its proprietary design combines lightweight corrugated material and wood framing, resulting in a robust and stackable container customized to fit any pallet or skid. Strip Pak is the perfect solution for packaging solar modules, providing the ideal blend of strength, versatility, eco-consciousness, and value.
Traditional packaging methods for solar modules involve cardboard boxes secured to pallets or all-wood crates. However, these approaches have their drawbacks. Regular cardboard boxes lack strength and stackability, increasing the risk of product damage. Alternatively, all-wood crates are more costly to purchase and ship due to their heavier weight, and they consume more lumber. Strip Pak addresses these issues by combining the best features of both methods while utilizing fewer resources. Corrugated material is derived from fast-growing pine trees, making Strip Pak an environmentally responsible choice without compromising product protection.
Strip Pak ships to you knocked down, facilitating cost-effective delivery and easy handling. This also allows for better storage space utilization. Assembly is a breeze with staple guns, and we offer custom printing options for your branding on the side of the crate. Choose Strip Pak to maximize your packaging investment and elevate your solar module packaging.
Are you looking for an easy-to-assemble crate without compromising on durability? Meet the Clamp-Lock 100 crate, a rigid crate with a straightforward construction process. Clamp-Lock 100 crate includes a patent pending tension lock system from our Clamp-Lock fasteners. These metal fasteners ensure the crate and its contents remain secure. Assembling the crate is effortless, requiring no tool- or pneumatic-nail or staple guns. The tool-free design promotes safety in your production environment.
Simply position the walls on the crate base and fasten them using our innovative fasteners. Everything seamlessly snaps into place.
The ease of assembly continues with disassembly. Just remove the fasteners, stack the pieces, and the crate is ready to be stored and used again. Designed for ease of assembly, disassembly, and reusability, these crates offer unparalleled convenience and sturdiness for your solar products. Customize your Clamp-Lock 100 crate with options including ISPM-15 heat treatment and tailored designs. This sustainable solution can be shipped kitted or fully built to suit your storage and logistics requirements.
U-Loc 200 crate is a revolutionary advancement in solar module packaging. Our patent pending U-Loc 200 clip allows for one-handed, tool-free assembly and disassembly for effortless handling. Its 6-face connection application enhances stability and security. Competing products in this space typically need a special tool or prying mechanism to remove and only offer a 4-face tension connection. With friction teeth providing a secure vertical grip, the U-Loc 200 crate provides unmatched convenience and product protection -- a vital consideration when shipping solar modules.
At UFP Packaging, we carefully select lumber from strategic domestic partners and global sources. We maintain close partnerships with our vendors by conducting regular meetings and on-site inspections of their operations. Environmental responsibility is at the core of our sourcing decisions, with our mill vendors planting more trees each year than they harvest. By working closely with solar customers, we have optimized the unit load maximization of our pallets from the standard 26 solar modules per pallet to 29. This increase of three modules per pallet saves you an exponential amount of money in packaging and shipping. This enhancement also decreases the materials used and your logistic carbon footprint. Wood is an excellent material to utilize for its renewable, sustainable, recyclable, durable, and biodegradable qualities.
Shield your solar products with our extensive range of protective packaging. By integrating these items with our pallets and crates, you can be confident that your solar modules will remain unharmed throughout their journey to the customer. Elevate your status in this rapidly expanding market by establishing a packaging standard that exceeds industry expectations. Doing so will solidify your reputation as an industry leader and show your commitment to quality, reliability, and innovation.
Our protective packaging lineup for the solar industry includes shrink and stretch films, banding, corner protectors, module spacers, bubble wrap, foam inserts, and corrugated boards. Stretch films securely wrap your solar modules while banding aids in securing the product to the base pallet or skid. Additional cushioning materials such as corner protectors, module spacers, foam inserts, and corrugated boards provide an additional layer of protection against vibration and potential impacts that may occur during transportation.
Solar packaging often falls into two extremes: over-packaged or under-packaged. Over-packaging results in wasted money and resources, while under-packaging leads to product claims and tarnished reputations. At UFP Packaging, we specialize in striking the optimal balance between providing effective protection and minimizing material usage. This approach not only saves you money but also benefits the environment.
Our ISTA-certified, in-house testing facility is staffed with professional engineers and packaging specialists. The facility boasts a simulated distribution testing process to ensure your packaging can withstand real-world conditions.
Selecting the ideal packaging solutions for the solar industry is vital to ensuring product safety, cost efficiency, and sustainability. UFP Packaging offers a comprehensive range of products tailored to this sector. The Solster pallet, Clamp-Lock 100, and U-Loc 200 are all proprietary pallet and crating solutions that effectively protect solar modules and maximize your unit load. Strip Pak® is an eco-conscious, efficient take on traditional solar packaging. Also available are custom pallets and crates designed to optimize transportation and a wide selection of protective packaging materials to safeguard your solar modules throughout their journey. Moreover, our in-house testing services help strike the perfect balance between effective protection and resource efficiency, saving you money while contributing to a healthier planet. Choose UFP Packaging to uphold your reputation, protect your products, and make a positive impact in the solar industry.
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UFP Packaging is the leading North American total packaging solutions provider. We leverage advanced materials and industry-leading engineering. Our product offering includes custom pallets, crates, skids, lumber, corrugated, labels, films, OEM components, and more. Our in-house ISTA-certified laboratory can evaluate your current packaging solution and compare it to a new one, supporting results-based solutions. With more than 90 facilities worldwide, we are prepared to meet the needs of regional, national, and global customers alike.
UFP Packaging is a full-service provider of packaging solutions and OEM components to small and large businesses across a wide range of industries. We design and manufacture the most diverse line of custom packaging solutions available, ranging from wood pallets and crates to highly customized packing solutions with integrated tracking systems. By leveraging advanced materials, industry-leading engineering, and facilities across the globe, we have the expertise and geographic coverage to serve the needs of regional, national and global customers alike.
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