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Wu D, Wessel P, Zhu J, Montiel-Chicharro D, Betts TR, Mordvinkin A, Gottschalg R. Influence of Lamination Conditions of EVA Encapsulation on Photovoltaic Module Durability. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 16:6945. [PMID: 37959542 PMCID: PMC10650427 DOI: 10.3390/ma16216945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Encapsulation is a well-known impact factor on the durability of Photovoltaics (PV) modules. Currently there is a lack of understanding on the relationship between lamination process and module durability. In this paper, the effects of different lamination parameters on the encapsulant stability due to stress testing have been investigated from both on-site production quality and long-term stability viewpoints. Rather than focusing on single stability factors, this paper evaluates lamination stability using a number of indicators including EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer) curing level, voids generation, chemical stability, optical stability, and adhesion strength. The influences of EVA curing level on the stability of other properties are also discussed. It is shown that laminates stability increases with increasing curing level to an upper limit, beyond which leading to the formation of voids, reduced transmittance stability, discoloration, and unstable interfaces. A minimum gel content is identified but an upper limit should not be surpassed. The best range of gel content for the materials tested here is 84-90%. Samples with gel content below 70% show low chemical and optical stability, weak adhesion strength, and EVA flowing. Laminates with gel content over 92% are more likely to become yellow and are less stable in adhesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Wu
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK; (J.Z.); (T.R.B.)
| | - Patrick Wessel
- Fraunhofer Center for Silicon-Photovoltaic (CSP), Otto-Eissfeldt-Straße 12, 06120 Halle, Germany; (P.W.); (A.M.)
- Fachbereich Elektrotechnik, Maschinenbau und Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen (EMW), Hochschule Anhalt Bernburger Str. 57, 06366 Köthen, Germany
| | - Jiang Zhu
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK; (J.Z.); (T.R.B.)
- Turbo Power Systems Ltd., 1 Queens Park, Queensway North, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE11 0QD, UK
| | - Daniel Montiel-Chicharro
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK; (J.Z.); (T.R.B.)
| | - Thomas R. Betts
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK; (J.Z.); (T.R.B.)
| | - Anton Mordvinkin
- Fraunhofer Center for Silicon-Photovoltaic (CSP), Otto-Eissfeldt-Straße 12, 06120 Halle, Germany; (P.W.); (A.M.)
| | - Ralph Gottschalg
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST), School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK; (J.Z.); (T.R.B.)
- Fraunhofer Center for Silicon-Photovoltaic (CSP), Otto-Eissfeldt-Straße 12, 06120 Halle, Germany; (P.W.); (A.M.)
- Fachbereich Elektrotechnik, Maschinenbau und Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen (EMW), Hochschule Anhalt Bernburger Str. 57, 06366 Köthen, Germany
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Alj I, Quiertant M, Khadour A, Grando Q, Benzarti K. Environmental Durability of an Optical Fiber Cable Intended for Distributed Strain Measurements in Concrete Structures. SENSORS 2021; 22:s22010141. [PMID: 35009683 PMCID: PMC8747727 DOI: 10.3390/s22010141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The present study investigates the environmental durability of a distributed optical fiber sensing (DOFS) cable on the market, commonly used for distributed strain measurements in reinforced concrete structures. An extensive experimental program was conducted on different types of specimens (including samples of bare DOFS cable and plain concrete specimens instrumented with this DOFS cable) that were exposed to accelerated and natural ageing (NA) conditions for different periods of up to 18 months. The instrumentation of both concrete specimens consisted of DOFS cables embedded at the center of the specimens and bonded at the concrete surface, as these two configurations are commonly deployed in the field. In these configurations, the alkalinity of the surrounding cement medium and the outdoor conditions are the main factors potentially affecting the characteristics of the DOFS component materials and the integrity of the various interfaces, and hence impacting the strain transfer process between the host structure and the core optical fiber (OF). Therefore, immersion in an alkaline solution at an elevated temperature or freeze/thaw (F/T) and immersion/drying (I/D) cycles were chosen as accelerated ageing conditions, depending on the considered configuration. Mechanical characterizations by tensile and pull-out tests were then carried out on the exposed specimens to assess the evolution of the mechanical properties of individual component materials as well as the evolution of bond properties at various interfaces (internal interfaces of the DOFS cable, and interface between the cable and the host structure) during ageing. Complementary physico-chemical characterizations were also performed to better understand the underlying degradation processes. The experimental results highlight that immersion in the alkaline solution induced a significant and rapid decrease in the bond properties at internal interfaces of the DOFS cable and at the cable/concrete interface (in the case of the embedded cable configuration), which was assigned to chemical degradation at the surface of the cable coating in contact with the solution (hydrolysis and thermal degradation of the EVA copolymer component). Meanwhile, F/T and I/D cycles showed more limited effects on the mechanical properties of the component materials and interfaces in the case of the bonded cable configuration. A comparison with the same specimens exposed to outdoor NA suggested that the chosen accelerated ageing conditions may not be totally representative of actual service conditions, but provided indications for improving the ageing protocols in future research. In the last part, an analysis of the distributed strain profiles collected during pull-out tests on instrumented concrete specimens clearly illustrated the consequences of ageing processes on the strain response of the DOFS cable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismail Alj
- Matériaux et Structures (MAST) Department, Expérimentation et Modélisation pour le Génie Civil et Urbain (EMGCU), University Gustave Eiffel—Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), F-77447 Marne-la-Vallée, France;
- Correspondence: (I.A.); (K.B.)
| | - Marc Quiertant
- Matériaux et Structures (MAST) Department, Expérimentation et Modélisation pour le Génie Civil et Urbain (EMGCU), University Gustave Eiffel—Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), F-77447 Marne-la-Vallée, France;
| | - Aghiad Khadour
- Composants et Systèmes (COSYS) Department, Laboratoire Instrumentation, Simulation et Informatique Scientifique (LISIS), University Gustave Eiffel—Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), F-77447 Marne-la-Vallée, France;
| | - Quentin Grando
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), CEDEX, 13115 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, France;
| | - Karim Benzarti
- Lab Navier, University Gustave Eiffel, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), F-77447 Marne la Vallée, France
- Correspondence: (I.A.); (K.B.)
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Shen Y, Chen Z, Zhou Y, Lei Z, Liu Y, Feng W, Zhang Z, Chen H. Solvent-free electrically conductive Ag/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) composites for paper-based printable electronics. RSC Adv 2019; 9:19501-19507. [PMID: 35519390 PMCID: PMC9065322 DOI: 10.1039/c9ra02593f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2019] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Solvent-free electrically conductive composites have been applied to flexible electronics to obtain high electrical conductivity. However, some of the proposed composites have low electrical conductivities and are unable to meet the requirements of commercial printable electronics. In this study, solvent-free electrically conductive Ag/EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) composites for paper-based printable electronics were prepared by a thermal melting method. The properties of these electrically conductive Ag/EVA composites, including particle sizes, morphologies and phase purities of the flake silver flake powders, were investigated using a particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. The results showed that nanometer-thick flake silver flake powders with smooth and flat surfaces were made by the nanofilm transition technique. These obtained powders were able to form smooth face-to-face contacts, which facilitated the formation of an excellent conductive network in the conductive system. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of EVA and Ag/EVA composites. A Fourier transformation infra-red (FTIR) spectrometer, laser micro-Raman spectrometer and thermogravimetric analyzer were used to analyze the organic functional groups, glass transition temperatures and thermal weight losses of the EVA resin and solvent-free electrically conductive composites. The solvent-free electrically conductive Ag/EVA composite, which contained 55 wt% of the as-prepared flake silver flake powders, was found to have an extremely low volume resistivity of 1.23 × 10-4 Ω cm as well as excellent bending performance and adhesion. These features indicate the great potential of these composites for application in printed electronics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqiu Shen
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Zhenxing Chen
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China,The Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Chemistry & Energy Conservation of Guangdong Province, Sun Yat-sen UniversityGuangzhou510275P. R. China
| | - Yong Zhou
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Zuomin Lei
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Yi Liu
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Wenchao Feng
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Zhuo Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
| | - Houfu Chen
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen UniversityTangjiawanZhuhai519082P. R. China
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Levet A, Colombani J, Duponchel L. Studying radiolytic ageing of nuclear power plant electric cables with FTIR spectroscopy. Talanta 2017; 172:139-146. [PMID: 28602286 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2017.05.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2017] [Revised: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Due to the willingness to extend the nuclear power plants length of life, it is of prime importance to understand long term ageing effect on all constitutive materials. For this purpose gamma-irradiation effects on insulation of instrumentation and control cables are studied. Mid-infrared spectroscopy and principal components analysis (PCA) were used to highlight molecular modifications induced by gamma-irradiation under oxidizing conditions. In order to be closer to real world conditions, a low dose rate of 11Gyh-1 was used to irradiate insulations in full cable or alone with a dose up to 58 kGy. Spectral differences according to irradiation dose were extracted using PCA. It was then possible to observe different behaviors of the insulation constitutive compounds i.e. ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and aluminium trihydrate (ATH). Irradiation of insulations led to the oxidation of their constitutive polymers and a modification of filler-polymer ratio. Moreover all these modifications were observed for insulations alone or in full cable indicating that oxygen easily diffuses into the material. Spectral contributions were discussed considering different degradation mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Levet
- IRSN/PSN-RES, Cadarache, St Paul lez Durance 13115, France; LASIR CNRS UMR 8516, Université Lille 1, Sciences et Technologies, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France
| | - J Colombani
- IRSN/PSN-RES, Cadarache, St Paul lez Durance 13115, France
| | - L Duponchel
- LASIR CNRS UMR 8516, Université Lille 1, Sciences et Technologies, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
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Impact of γ-irradiation, ageing and their interactions on multilayer films followed by AComDim. Anal Chim Acta 2017; 981:11-23. [PMID: 28693725 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2017.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2016] [Revised: 05/17/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To highlight the main factors involved in the degradation of polymers in multilayer films under γ-irradiation, the ANOVA Common Dimensions (AComDim, Analysis of Variance in Common Dimensions) method is applied on spectra recorded with ATR-FTIR (Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared). The present study focuses on the stability of γ-irradiated polymers used in single-use plastic bags made of multilayer films for the biopharmaceutical and biotechnological industries. The samples are irradiated at several γ-doses, up to 270 kGy, and compared with a non-irradiated sample used as reference. It shows that the γ-dose, the natural ageing up to six months and the γ-dose × ageing interaction are the most influential factors.
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Gaston F, Dupuy N, Marque SR, Barbaroux M, Dorey S. FTIR study of ageing of γ-irradiated biopharmaceutical EVA based film. Polym Degrad Stab 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2016.03.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Outdoor Exposure Degradation of Ethylene-Vinyl-Acetate Encapsulant Material for Photovoltaic Application. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03464-5_8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
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Khodkar F, Ebrahimi NG. Effect of irradiation on mechanical and structural properties of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers hollow fibers. J Appl Polym Sci 2010. [DOI: 10.1002/app.32926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Zhang C, Easteal AJ, Edmonds NR, Liang G, Razzak M, Leech W. In vitro and mechanism study of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)-based implant for sustained release of vitamin B12. Macromol Res 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s13233-010-0711-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Chen S, Zhang J, Su J. Effect of damp-heat aging on the properties of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and ethylene- acrylic acid copolymer blends. J Appl Polym Sci 2009. [DOI: 10.1002/app.30859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Chen S, Zhang J, Su J. Effect of hot air aging on the properties of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer blends. J Appl Polym Sci 2009. [DOI: 10.1002/app.29506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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