Your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news

• Popular Technical Papers

  • Overview of automation in the photovoltaic industry
  • Understanding moisture ingress and packaging requirements for photovoltaic modules
  • Evaluation of encapsulant materials for PV applications
  • Inline processing of crystalline silicon solar cells: the holy grail for large-scale manufacturing?
  • PV sector outlook: an analyst’s perspective

• Featured Technical Papers

  • Transparent conducting oxide deposition techniques for thin-film photovoltaics
  • Comprehensive and advanced quality assurance measures for optimal yields from PV power plants
  • Surface passivation of silicon solar cells using industrially relevant Al2O3 deposition techniques
  • Influence of a-Si:H deposition temperature on thermal stability of a-Si:H/SiNx:H stacks
  • Integrated loops: a prerequisite for sustainable and environmentally-friendly polysilicon production

Among the different packaging materials used in photovoltaic solar modules, ethylene vinyl acetate-based (EVA) encapsulants play an important role during the lifespan of the module assembly. Prior to lamination, EVA is a thermoplastics polymer containing a number of additives. During the lamination process, EVA cross-links into a three-dimensional network structure, i.e., a thermoset, which provides protection for solar cells against detrimental environmental conditions. Since EVA has a very low glass transition temperature and melting points, proper cross-link density has to be achieved through the lamination process to prevent the EVA from cold flowing in the field. As a result, module manufacturers constantly monitor the cross-link density or gel content of EVA after lamination. This paper proposes a new method of measuring this density value while avoiding many of the current pitfalls.

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