TY - JOUR
T1 - Artificial Linear Brush Abrasion of Coatings for Photovoltaic Module First-Surfaces
AU - Newkirk, Jimmy
AU - Nayshevsky, Ilya
AU - Sinha, Archana
AU - Law, Adam
AU - Xu, QianFeng
AU - To, Bobby
AU - Ndione, Paul
AU - Schelhas, Laura
AU - Walls, John
AU - Lyons, Alan
AU - Miller, David
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Natural soiling and the subsequent requisite cleaning of photovoltaic (PV) modules result in abrasion damage to the cover glass. The durability of the front glass has important economic consequences, including determining the use of anti-reflective and/or anti-soiling coatings as well as the method and frequency of operational maintenance (cleaning). Artificial linear brush abrasion using Nylon 6/12 bristles was therefore examined to explore the durability of representative PV first-surfaces, i.e., the surface of a module incident to direct solar radiation. Specimens examined include silane surface functionalized-, roughened (etched)-, porous silica-coated-, fluoropolymer-coated-, and ceramic (TiO2 or ZrO2/SiO2/ZrO2/SiO2)-coated-glass, which are compared to monolithic-poly(methyl methacrylate) and -glass coupons. Characterization methods used in this study include: optical microscopy, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) spectroscopy, sessile drop goniometry, white-light interferometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corresponding characteristics examined include: surface morphology, transmittance (i.e., optical performance), surface energy (water contact angle), surface roughness, scratch width and depth, and chemical composition, respectively. The study here was performed to determine coating failure modes; identify characterization methods that can detect nascent failures; compare the durability of popular contemporary coating materials; identify their corresponding damage characteristics; and compare slurry and dry-dust abrasion. This study will also aid in developing an abrasion standard for the PV industry.
AB - Natural soiling and the subsequent requisite cleaning of photovoltaic (PV) modules result in abrasion damage to the cover glass. The durability of the front glass has important economic consequences, including determining the use of anti-reflective and/or anti-soiling coatings as well as the method and frequency of operational maintenance (cleaning). Artificial linear brush abrasion using Nylon 6/12 bristles was therefore examined to explore the durability of representative PV first-surfaces, i.e., the surface of a module incident to direct solar radiation. Specimens examined include silane surface functionalized-, roughened (etched)-, porous silica-coated-, fluoropolymer-coated-, and ceramic (TiO2 or ZrO2/SiO2/ZrO2/SiO2)-coated-glass, which are compared to monolithic-poly(methyl methacrylate) and -glass coupons. Characterization methods used in this study include: optical microscopy, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) spectroscopy, sessile drop goniometry, white-light interferometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corresponding characteristics examined include: surface morphology, transmittance (i.e., optical performance), surface energy (water contact angle), surface roughness, scratch width and depth, and chemical composition, respectively. The study here was performed to determine coating failure modes; identify characterization methods that can detect nascent failures; compare the durability of popular contemporary coating materials; identify their corresponding damage characteristics; and compare slurry and dry-dust abrasion. This study will also aid in developing an abrasion standard for the PV industry.
KW - Abrasion
KW - Anti-reflective coating
KW - Anti-soiling coating
KW - Erosion
KW - Operations maintenance
KW - PMMA
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090848163&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757
DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090848163
SN - 0927-0248
VL - 219
JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
M1 - 110757
ER -