Title: Accelerated Stress Testing of Hydrocarbon-Based Encapsulants for Medium-Concentration CPV Applications.
Author: Kempe, M. D.; Moricone, T. J.; Kilkenny, M.; Zhang, J. Z.
Pages/Volumes: 10 pp.
Publication Year: 2011
Notes: 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC '09), 7-12 June 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Document Type: Conference Paper
NTIS/GPO Number: 1007335
Subject Code Description: Solar Energy - Photovoltaics
Abstract: Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems have great potential to reduce photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs because of the relatively low cost of optical components as compared to PV cells. A transparent polymeric material is used to optically couple the PV cell to optical components and is thus exposed to the concentrated light source at elevated temperatures. In this work polymeric encapsulant materials are positioned close to a Xenon arc lamp to expose them to ultraviolet radiation (UV) that is about 42 times as intense as sunlight. Furthermore, different glass types are used as filters to modify the spectral distribution of light in the UV range. A strong sensitivity of non-silicone-based encapsulants to light below ~350 nm is demonstrated. Of all the materials examined in this study, the polydimethyl silicone samples performed the best. The next best material was an ionomer which maintained optical transmission but became photo-oxidized where exposed to the atmosphere.
Accession Number: 46085
Library Notes: NPL-1102 REV
Report Numbers: CP-5200-46085
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