Abstract
One of the ways to reduce the cost of solar electricity to 3¢/kWh, thus reaching parity with fossil-fuel-based generation, is to reduce the degradation rate of solar modules and extend their lifetime well beyond 30 years. The extended module lifetime in turn can positively influence the financial model and the bankability of utility-scale PV projects. Today, the highest-riskpriority solar module degradation mechanism is what is known as hot spots, often induced by cell cracks. In order to address this degradation mechanism, we make use of low-cost, multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in commercial screen-printable silver pastes. When the carbon nanotubes are properly functionalized and appropriately incorporated into commercial silver pastes, the resulting metal contacts on solar cells, after screen-printing and firing, show exceptional fracture toughness. These composite metal contacts possess increased ductility, electrical gap-bridging capability up to 50 μm, and "self-healing" to regain electrical continuity even after cycles of complete electrical failure under extreme strain.
Original language | American English |
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Pages | 2259-2263 |
Number of pages | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2019 |
Event | 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019 - Chicago, United States Duration: 16 Jun 2019 → 21 Jun 2019 |
Conference
Conference | 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Chicago |
Period | 16/06/19 → 21/06/19 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 IEEE.
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-5K00-76280
Keywords
- cracks
- ductility
- fracture toughness
- multi-wall carbon nanotubes
- printing
- silver
- solar cells