Abstract
During long-term exposure of photovoltaic modules to environmental stress, the ingress of water into the module is correlated with decreased performance. By using diffusivity measurements for water through encapsulants such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), we have modeled moisture ingress using a finite-element analysis with atmospheric data from various locations such as Miami, Florida. Thisanalysis shows that because of the high diffusivity of EVA, even an impermeable glass back-sheet alone is incapable of preventing significant moisture ingress from the edges for a 20-year lifecycle. This result has led us to investigate ways to protect modules from moisture through the use of different encapsulating chemistries and materials.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 7 |
| State | Published - 2005 |
| Event | 31st IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference and Exhibition - Lake Buena Vista, Florida Duration: 3 Jan 2005 → 7 Jan 2005 |
Conference
| Conference | 31st IEEE Photovoltaics Specialists Conference and Exhibition |
|---|---|
| City | Lake Buena Vista, Florida |
| Period | 3/01/05 → 7/01/05 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-520-37390
Keywords
- diffusivity measurements
- ethylene vinyl acetate
- EVA
- glass back-sheet
- module
- moisture ingress
- PV
