Acetic acid production and glass transition concerns with ethylene-vinyl acetate used in photovoltaic devices

Kempe, Michael; Jorgensen, Gary; Terwilliger, K. M.; McMahon, T. J.; Kennedy, Cheryl; Borek, Theodore T.

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2006.10.009

Cited by 256 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Regarding reliability, the focus is mainly on the organic component, namely, ethylene-vinyl acetate. This component's properties, processing and mechanisms of degradation have been already described by Czanderna and Pern [10], Klemchuk et al [9], Agroui et al [12,13] and Kempe et al [14]. Most authors agree that the utility of EVA with respect to encapsulation is more a matter of low price than it is a favorable combination of properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Due to the instability of the encapsulant film, there is a possibility of delamination during operation, and this effect can directly threaten the solar cell itself, and thus the entire photovoltaic module [8]. Although several studies suggest there are more suitable encapsulant materials, eg, silicon-based materials [14,22], ethylene copolymers based on acrylic acids and acrylate [23], EVA films remain dominant in the photovoltaic industry.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At such low temperatures, ethylene-vinyl acetate reaches the glass transition temperature [14], and the elastic material becomes solid and notably brittle. Hence, it is very important to monitor the glass transition temperature and the mechanical properties of the EVA film by dynamic mechanical analysis, as it is considered to be the most accurate method for this purpose [17,18].…”

Section: Dynamic Mechanical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mechanical Behavior and Thermal Stability of EVA Encapsulant Material Used in Photovoltaic Modules

Polanský¹,

Pinkerova²,

Bartunkova³

et al. 2013

Journal of Electrical Engineering

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The mechanical behavior and the thermal stability of an encapsulant based on ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) were studied. The EVA properties were verified at temperatures ranging from −70 • C to 500 • C . Thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis were used in this study. It has been shown that the encapsulant has a good weight stability; however, the encapsulant passes through both a glass transition and a melting phase in the range of operating temperatures. The kinetic parameters of crosslinking were also analyzed. It is possible to achieve 65 % crosslinking at a temperature of 150 • C and a time of 5 minutes. The activation energy of crosslinking is 95.6 kJ/mol.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dynamic Mechanical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanical Behavior and Thermal Stability of EVA Encapsulant Material Used in Photovoltaic Modules

Polanský¹,

Pinkerova²,

Bartunkova³

et al. 2013

Journal of Electrical Engineering

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“…This indicator, often referred to as "adhesion strength" for lap-shear tests or "peeling strength" for peeling Compressive-shear adhesion characterization of PVB and EVA V. Chapuis et al tests, is widely used in the PV community to describe adhesion of encapsulants to rigid substrates [18,24].…”

Section: Force Controlled Indicatormentioning

confidence: 99%

Compressive‐shear adhesion characterization of polyvinyl‐butyral and ethylene‐vinyl acetate at different curing times before and after exposure to damp‐heat conditions

Chapuis

Pélisset

Raeis-Barnéoud

et al. 2012

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency and reliability are two factors that have an important impact on the final cost of the PV electricity production. It is widely accepted that a good adhesion between the encapsulant and the different substrates of a PV module is needed to ensure long-term reliability. Several testing procedures exist that use a metric derived from the force at interface failure to characterize the adhesion. It has, however, not been demonstrated that those metrics relate directly to the interfacial adhesion (defined as the surface energy density needed to break interfacial bonds), and the obtained results usually relate to an apparent adhesion strength. In this work, we describe a new design for compressive-shear testing of polymer layers bonded to rigid substrates. We use it to characterize real interfacial adhesion of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyvinyl-butyral (PVB) to a glass substrate before and after degradation in damp-heat. Our results show that a peak-force based metric is unable to capture the evolution of adhesion through degradation, and a new metric based on the elastic strain energy of the encapsulant is proposed. Moreover, we show that PVB adhesion to glass is much more affected by damp-heat exposure where polymer saturation takes place, in comparison with the adhesion of EVA to glass. The presented characterization protocol is a powerful tool that can help in assessing the reliability of an encapsulant facing specific degradation conditions.

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“…The use of silicones as adhesive and encapsulant instead of EVA is considered to be beneficial in terms of optical performance [8], [9], due to reduced ultraviolet (UV) light absorption, and reliability [9], [10], because of lower glass transition temperature and Young's modulus, better UV stability, and reduced moisture take-up and higher heat and flame resistance, the latter being interesting from, respectively, the processing (e.g., the silicone can withstand soldering temperatures) and safety points of view. Specifically for PV module packaging, where a high transparency of the front sheet and encapsulants throughout its functional life is required, the significant UV exposure to solar radiation can be detrimental to some polymer encapsulants.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing an Advanced Module for Back-Contact Solar Cells

Govaerts

Robbelein

González

et al. 2011

IEEE Trans. Compon., Packag. Manufact. Technol.

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Abstract-This paper proposes a novel concept for integrating ultrathin solar cells into modules. It is conceived as a method for fabricating solar panels starting from back-contact crystalline silicon solar cells. However, compared to the current state of the art in module manufacturing for back-contact solar cells, this novel concept aims at improvements in performance, reliability, and cost through the use of an alternative encapsulant, namely silicones as opposed to ethylene vinyl acetate, an alternative deposition technology, being wet coating as opposed to dry lamination; and alternative module-level metallization techniques, as opposed to cell-level tabbing-stringing or conductive foil interconnects. The process flow is proposed, and the materials and fabrication technologies are discussed. As the durability of the module, translated into the module's lifetime, is very important in the targeted application, namely solar cell modules, modeling and reliability testing results and considerations are presented to illustrate how the experimental development process may be guided by experience and theoretical derivations. Finally, feasibility is demonstrated in some first proofs of the concept, and an outlook is given pointing out the direction for further research.

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Acetic acid production and glass transition concerns with ethylene-vinyl acetate used in photovoltaic devices

Cited by 256 publications

References 12 publications

Mechanical Behavior and Thermal Stability of EVA Encapsulant Material Used in Photovoltaic Modules

Mechanical Behavior and Thermal Stability of EVA Encapsulant Material Used in Photovoltaic Modules

Compressive‐shear adhesion characterization of polyvinyl‐butyral and ethylene‐vinyl acetate at different curing times before and after exposure to damp‐heat conditions

Developing an Advanced Module for Back-Contact Solar Cells

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