Viscoelastic Material Characterization and Modeling of Photovoltaic Module Packaging Materials for Direct Finite-Element Method Input
Numerical tools, such as the finite-element method, are increasingly used to design and evaluate the photovoltaic (PV) modules, providing for the reduction of development time and improved performance and reliability. However, high-fidelity material models are necessary to accurately model the complex structural behavior of the involved packaging materials. A common simplification used in recent years is to model the polymer materials (i.e., encapsulant and backsheet) as linear elastic, which will lead to inaccurate results. Therefore, in this work, we present a thorough characterization of the time- and temperature-dependent mechanical response of predominant PV module encapsulant and backsheet materials. Based on this material characterization, we developed and experimentally validated generalized Maxwell models to describe each material's viscoelastic response. In addition, we included measurements of the coefficient of thermal expansion and presented all material models in such a fashion for direct input into commercial finite-element method modeling software.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1665865
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-76278; MainId:6257; UUID:53a7a728-595e-ea11-9c31-ac162d87dfe5; MainAdminID:18537
- Journal Information:
- IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 10, Issue 5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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