Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications

M. D. Kempe; M. Kilkenny; T. J. Moricone; J. Z. Zhang

doi:10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508

Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications

M. D. Kempe, M. Kilkenny, T. J. Moricone, J. Z. Zhang

Materials Science

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

23 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems have great potential to reduce photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs because of the relatively low cost of optical components as compared to PV cells. A transparent polymeric material is used to optically couple the PV cell to optical components and is thus exposed to the concentrated light source at elevated temperatures. In this work polymeric encapsulant materials are positioned close to a Xenon arc lamp to expose them to ultraviolet radiation (UV) that is about 42 times as intense as sunlight. Furthermore, different glass types are used as filters to modify the spectral distribution of light in the UV range. A strong sensitivity of non-silicone-based encapsulants to light below ∼350 nm is demonstrated. Of all the materials examined in this study, the polydimethyl silicone samples performed the best. The next best material was an ionomer which maintained optical transmission but became photo-oxidized where exposed to the atmosphere.

Original language	American English
Pages	1826-1831
Number of pages	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508 https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508
State	Published - 2009
Event	2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2009 - Philadelphia, PA, United States Duration: 7 Jun 2009 → 12 Jun 2009

Conference

Conference	2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2009
Country/Territory	United States
City	Philadelphia, PA
Period	7/06/09 → 12/06/09

NREL Publication Number

NREL/CP-5200-50792

Keywords

concentrating photovoltaic systems
CPV
PV cells
solar

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Kempe, M. D., Kilkenny, M., Moricone, T. J., & Zhang, J. Z. (2009). Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications. 1826-1831. Paper presented at 2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2009, Philadelphia, PA, United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508

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author = "Kempe, {M. D.} and M. Kilkenny and Moricone, {T. J.} and Zhang, {J. Z.}",

year = "2009",

doi = "10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508",

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Kempe, MD, Kilkenny, M, Moricone, TJ & Zhang, JZ 2009, 'Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications', Paper presented at 2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2009, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 7/06/09 - 12/06/09 pp. 1826-1831. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2009.5411508

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AB - Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems have great potential to reduce photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs because of the relatively low cost of optical components as compared to PV cells. A transparent polymeric material is used to optically couple the PV cell to optical components and is thus exposed to the concentrated light source at elevated temperatures. In this work polymeric encapsulant materials are positioned close to a Xenon arc lamp to expose them to ultraviolet radiation (UV) that is about 42 times as intense as sunlight. Furthermore, different glass types are used as filters to modify the spectral distribution of light in the UV range. A strong sensitivity of non-silicone-based encapsulants to light below ∼350 nm is demonstrated. Of all the materials examined in this study, the polydimethyl silicone samples performed the best. The next best material was an ionomer which maintained optical transmission but became photo-oxidized where exposed to the atmosphere.

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Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications

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Keywords

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