Silicon-carbide coating as mechanical enhancement for solar module assembly

• Main Authors: Cheng-Lien Wang, Chien-Chun Hsieh, Hung-Chieh Tseng, Hsin-Hsin Hsieh, Yu-Hsien Lee, Min-An Tsai, Wei-Lun Yang, Sih-Hong Chen, Meng-Fan Lin, Kuan-Wu Lu, Shih-Jui Wu
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: dynamic mechanical load testing (DML); electroluminescence (EL); HeatCap module; IEC Standards; micro-cracks; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Solar heating; Testing
• ISSN: 2150-5942
• DOI: 10.1109/IMPACT.2016.7800056

SiC layer covered solar cell as reinforcement layer (patented "HeatCap™" technology) was successfully manufactured via using screen printing technique for solar cell. Mechanical performances of solar modules in two forms (normal module and 20% light-weight module) were tested in this work, and a conventional c-Si solar module was also used as reference. The mechanical load tests were in accordance with IEC 61215 standard and 62782 Draft, followed by I-V measurement and EL observation. In general, HeatCap solar modules performed well in mechanical load testing (ML) with vacuum suckers at 8600 Pa. The power drop of HeatCap modules were rarely detected, while that of the reference conventional module was about 1.01%. According to the EL detection, the HeatCap module's EL image was clean; however, the reference module showed randomly distributed dark regions of cell disconnection and micro-cracks/ breakage. For the dynamic mechanical load testing (DML, based on IEC 62782 Draft), the loading was reinforced to 4000 Pa, and HeatCap solar module exhibited lower power drop (0.18%), compared to reference module (2.32%). This paper not only proves the suppression capability of micro-cracks of HeatCap solar modules, but also verifies the application in the industrial production.