Silicone Slows Solar Cell Aging

Although the power provided by photovoltaic modules does not harm the environment and climate, solar power is very expensive. Therefore, it is imperative to increase the module life as much as possible, such as 25 years or more. To achieve this goal, Fraunhofer scholars in the United States are studying solar cell materials that are protected from the environment.

Researchers are testing the quality of silicone-wrapped solar modules

Sometimes, just a few cents can determine the success or failure of a technology. For example, as long as solar energy is more expensive than energy extracted from fossil fuels, photovoltaic power generation is not competitive in a widely open market. “Solar power generation is still dependent on public subsidies, and it is the same in the United States and Germany. Christian Hoepfner, scientific director of Fraunhofer Sustainable Energy Systems CSE Center in Cambridge, Mass., explains : "If we want to have long-term penetration of renewable energy into the global market, then we must make sure it is made cheaper. ”

There is no secret to achieving this goal: you can't blindly increase efficiency, and it is very expensive to produce solar cells and modules. If you want to change, you must solve a difficult problem with many variables: engineering research teams around the world are looking for new technologies and production methods that can make solar cells and components cheaper, more efficient, longer lasting, and more reliable.

Silicone is one of the promising materials. This is a very special kind of material. It is neither an inorganic crystal nor an organic polymer, but it is related to both. Although up to now, the packaging of photovoltaic modules will use silicone, silicone is not widely used in solar panels. Solar panels are protective layers around fragile silicon wafers. At present, most photovoltaic cell manufacturers use ethylene-vinyl acetate, or short-term EVA.

To determine if silicone could replace ethylene-vinyl acetate, a researcher from Fraunhofer and the research team of Dow Corning Corporation collaborated on the study. (Dow Corning is the world's largest silicone manufacturer for medical technology, cosmetics, the automotive industry, paper processing and electronics.) Scientists coated liquid crystal cells with liquid silicone. Rafal Mickiewicz, project manager, said: "When silicone hardens, it wraps the battery. Electronic components are optimized for protection." Experts at CSE have produced silicone. The prototype of the panel was tested in a cryogenic and cyclically loaded climatic chamber. The module performance was also tested with a flasher. In addition, researchers used electro-luminescence-imaging techniques to detect micro-cracks. The results demonstrate that in strong winds, silicone-encapsulated PV modules can be cycled more often in strong winds than in conventional solar modules, especially at frost conditions of minus 40 degrees Celsius.

Dow Corning researchers worked for two years with Fraunhofer's CSE photovoltaic components group. This cooperation has greatly improved our understanding of solar cell module materials, especially in terms of sustainability and output. "Andy Goodwin, global technology manager at Dow Corning, said.

During this period, the results of the tests were announced at the 26th European Photovoltaics Solar Energy Conference in 2011. "The results of the study show that silicone plates are very suitable for certain applications. Because silicones are good at protecting the surface and internal fragile components of cells. In addition, it can withstand severe temperature fluctuations. "With this technology, we can Make silicon cells more stable," Mickiewicz concluded.

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