Thermal Characterization of Photovoltaic Materials - application brochure
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Thermal Characterization of Photovoltaic Materials Analyzing & Testing

Renewable Energy Solar Energy Renewable sources of energy – wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power, tidal power, geothermal energy and biomass – are essential alternatives to fossil fuels. Their use reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, diversifies our energy supply and reduces our dependence on unreliable and volatile fossil fuel markets. The sun is the world’s primary source of energy, and solar power systems can harness the sun’s rays as a high-temperature, clean energy source for heat or electricity. Photovoltaic (PV) electricity is emerging as a major power source due to its...

Thermal Analysis and Thermophysical Properties The solar energy demand has grown at about 30% per annum over the past 15 years. To meet the growing demand, get products to market faster, and provide critical performance data to support competitive differentiation, research emphasis will be on the efficiency of PV systems, their lifetime and costs. This will spur new developments in material use and consumption, device design, and production technologies, and will drive the development of new concepts for increasing overall efficiency. The product portfolio and applications knowledge of...

Differential Scanning Calorimetry Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is one of the most frequently employed thermal analysis methods. It can be used to analyze nearly any energetic effect occurring in a solid or liquid during thermal treatment. DSC analysis provides valuable information for the research and quality control of solar cells, including: Analysis of amorphous encapsulants Information about process temperatures Specific heat for determination of the thermal diffusivity/ conductivity Kinetic analysis of the curing behavior The DSC 300 Caliris® Select/Supreme variants are easy...

Simultaneous Thermal Analysis Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) generally refers to the simultaneous application of Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) and DSC to one and the same sample in a single instrument. The main advantage of this is that test conditions are perfectly identical for the TGA and DSC signals (same atmosphere, gas flow rate, vapor pressure of the sample, heating rate, thermal contact to the sample crucible and sensor, radiation effect, etc.). In addition, sample throughput is improved as more information is gathered from each test run. Specific heat...

Thermal Expansion Stressing of the PV module Dilatometry Many materials undergo changes to their thermomechanical properties during heating or cooling. The thermal expansion is an important temperature effect which must be taken into account when modules are designed. The amount of spacing necessary to accommodate for such thermal expansion can be determined as a function of temperature (T) and the thermal expansion coefficients of the glass and the actual cell, as follows: δ = (αGC - αCD) ΔT αG, αC: expansion coefficients of the glass and the cell respectively C: cell center-to-center...

Thermomechanical Analysis Dilatometry (DIL) and Thermo-mechanical Analysis (TMA) provide valuable information regarding the mechanical properties under load and impact on solar cells. Investigations can be carried out on plastics and elastomers, paints and dyes, composite materials, adhesives, films and fibers, ceramics, glass and metals. Standards DIL determines the length change of samples under a negligible load (DIN 51045). The closely related TMA method also determines dimensional changes to solids, liquids or pasty materials as a function of temperature and/or time under a defined...

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA or DMTA) allows for quantitative deter-mination of the mechanical properties of a sample under an oscillating load as a function of temperature, time and frequency (DIN 53513, DIN EN ISO 6721, DIN 53440, DIN-IEC 1006, ASTM D4065, ASTM D4092, ASTM D4473, ASTM D5023, ASTM D5024, ASTM D5026, ASTM D5418). Measurement Information The results portray the viscoelastic properties, typically provided as a graphical plot of E’, E’’, and tan δ versus temperature. DMA identifies transition regions in plastics and resins such as the glass...

Dielectric Analysis For investigation of the curing behavior of thermosetting resin systems, composite materials, adhesives and paints, Dielectric Analysis (DEA) in accordance with ASTM E2038 or E2039 has stood the test of time. The great advantage of DEA is that it can be employed not only in the laboratory, but also in process. These systems can measure the ion conductivity – calculated from the dielectric loss factor – or its reciprocal value, the ion viscosity. Materials with slow curing times (> 3 min) or fast ones can be analyzed. Single- and multi-channel systems are available....

The Advanced Software Module Today, many different polymers are appearing on the market which might be considered for the PV lamination process. However, their thermal behavior is critical for such applications and must be investigated before decisions can be made. For lamination, the time- and temperature-dependent curing reactions (e.g. of EVA copolymer films) play an especially important role. Fluctuations in the curing agent may occur and therefore require special attention. The NETZSCH Advanced Software module Thermokinetics is capable of creating kinetic models of any chemical...

Thermal Management Task Most of the solar radiation energy absorbed by solar cells is converted into thermal energy. This may cause the cells' junction temperature to rise unless the heat is efficiently dissipated to the environment. Heat removal is therefore an important issue in solar cell operation. Encapsulation of solar cells affects the heat flow into and out of a PV module and thereby increases its temperature. This effect reduces the PV voltage and thus lowers the PV efficiency. In addition, this temperature increase can cause various malfunctions and degradation of the PV module....