Welded wire termination device and method for constructing a solar array

A solar array, comprising:

• a solar panel frame;
• a facesheet on said solar panel frame;
• a plurality of strings on said facesheet, each string comprising a plurality of series connected solar cells;
• a plurality of end termination tabs that are connected to the respective strings;
• a pair of tubules that are integrally formed with each of said end termination tabs;
• a plurality of wires having first and second ends that extend through different tubules on adjacent end termination tabs to electrically connect the strings;
• and
• a plurality of welded termination joints, each comprising two laterally applied, opposing tweezer weld joints that connect the tubules to respective wires.

A method for constructing a solar array, comprising:

• providing a solar panel;
• providing a plurality of end termination tab blanks that are patterned to have a conductive pad, at least one solar cell termination tab, and a pair of wire termination tabs extending laterally therefrom;
• forming the wire termination pads on a die to define a pair of tubules between the wire termination tabs and the conductive pad;
• providing a plurality of series connected solar cell strings;
• connecting the solar cell termination tabs to the respective strings;
• inserting a plurality of wires having first and second ends into different tubules on adjacent end termination tabs to electricallly connect the strings;
• and
• tweezer welding the tubules to form welded wire terminations between the tubules and the wires.