Solar cells are glassed mechanically to form solar cell stacks, each having a protective coverslide adhesively bonded to the active face of a solar cell, by relative movement of assembly fixtures past a solar cell dispenser which places a solar cell on each fixture, a following adhesive dispenser which applies adhesive to the active face of each cell, and a final coverslide dispenser which applies a coverslide to each cell to form an adhesively bonded cell stack. The preferred adhesive is a liquid adhesive which is applied to a central region only of each active cell face, then spreads over the entire cell face by capillary flow following application of the cell coverslide, and is finally cured by relative movement of the cell stack through an oven or the like.