Novel encapsulant architecture on the road to photovoltaic module power output increase

M.C. López-Escalante, M. Fernández-Rodríguez, L.J. Caballero, F. Martín, M. Gabás and J.R. Ramos-Barrado

Applied Energy, 2018, vol. 228, issue C, 1910 pages

Abstract: Nowadays, non-silicon materials on photovoltaic modules represent near half of its final price. Therefore, actions focused on photovoltaic module material reduction, as well as final photovoltaic module power increment, will have positive impacts on the factory annual economic balance. In this work, we propose a novel ethylene-vinylacetate (EVA) encapsulant architecture, which allows an excellent light management without any change in the production line. It is based on the enlargement of the solar radiation spectral range reaching the cell by the use of a low ultraviolet cut off EVA as a front encapsulant, and an original White EVA as a rear encapsulant film, which promotes the radiation reflectance by the free-silicon area inside of the module. Real size photovoltaic modules with this encapsulant design have been fabricated in an automatic line and the highest power increment measured is 5.16 W. This implies a valuable improvement on the power distribution of a photovoltaic module production line. These photovoltaic modules have also successfully overcome the most common aging tests.

Keywords: Silicon photovoltaic module; Renewable energy; Light management; Novel encapsulant architecture; EVA; Power enhancement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.07.073

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