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Title: Artificial linear brush abrasion of coatings for photovoltaic module first-surfaces

Abstract

Natural soiling and the subsequent necessary cleaning of photovoltaic (PV) modules result in abrasion damage to the cover glass. The durability of the front glass has important economic consequences, including determining the use of anti-reflective and/or anti-soiling coatings as well as the method and frequency of operational maintenance (cleaning). Artificial linear brush abrasion using Nylon 6/12 bristles was therefore examined to explore the durability of representative PV first-surfaces, i.e., the surface of a module incident to direct solar radiation. Specimens examined include silane surface functionalized-, roughened (etched)-, porous silica-coated-, fluoropolymer-coated-, and ceramic (TiO2 or ZrO2/SiO2/ZrO2/SiO2)-coated-glass, which are compared to monolithic-poly(methyl methacrylate) and -glass coupons. Characterization methods used in this study include: optical microscopy, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) spectroscopy, sessile drop goniometry, white-light interferometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corresponding characteristics examined include: surface morphology, transmittance (i.e., optical performance), surface energy (water contact angle), surface roughness, scratch width and depth, and chemical composition, respectively. The study here was performed to determine coating failure modes; identify characterization methods that can detect nascent failures; compare the durability of popular contemporary coating materials; identify their corresponding damage characteristics; and compare slurry and dry-dust abrasion. This study will also aid inmore » developing an abrasion standard for the PV industry.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [6]; ORCiD logo [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States). National Center for Photovoltaics
  2. City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. Loughborough Univ. (United Kingdom)
  5. ARL Designs LLC, New York, NY (United States)
  6. City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States); ARL Designs LLC, New York, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1665884
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1811059
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5K00-77708
Journal ID: ISSN 0927-0248; MainId:30623;UUID:777933c2-6cc5-4d11-82cf-15ce525d6555;MainAdminID:18574
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308; ECCS-1542152; DE‐AC36‐08GO28308
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 219; Journal ID: ISSN 0927-0248
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; abrasion; anti reflective coating; anti soiling coating; erosion; module reliability; operations maintenance; PMMA; PV reliability

Citation Formats

Newkirk, Jimmy M., Nayshevsky, Illya, Sinha, Archana, Law, Adam M., Xu, QianFeng, To, Bobby, Ndione, Paul F., Schelhas, Laura T., Walls, John M., Lyons, Alan M., and Miller, David C.. Artificial linear brush abrasion of coatings for photovoltaic module first-surfaces. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757.
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Newkirk, Jimmy M., Nayshevsky, Illya, Sinha, Archana, Law, Adam M., Xu, QianFeng, To, Bobby, Ndione, Paul F., Schelhas, Laura T., Walls, John M., Lyons, Alan M., & Miller, David C.. Artificial linear brush abrasion of coatings for photovoltaic module first-surfaces. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757
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Newkirk, Jimmy M., Nayshevsky, Illya, Sinha, Archana, Law, Adam M., Xu, QianFeng, To, Bobby, Ndione, Paul F., Schelhas, Laura T., Walls, John M., Lyons, Alan M., and Miller, David C.. 2020. "Artificial linear brush abrasion of coatings for photovoltaic module first-surfaces". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1665884.
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@article{osti_1665884,
title = {Artificial linear brush abrasion of coatings for photovoltaic module first-surfaces},
author = {Newkirk, Jimmy M. and Nayshevsky, Illya and Sinha, Archana and Law, Adam M. and Xu, QianFeng and To, Bobby and Ndione, Paul F. and Schelhas, Laura T. and Walls, John M. and Lyons, Alan M. and Miller, David C.},
abstractNote = {Natural soiling and the subsequent necessary cleaning of photovoltaic (PV) modules result in abrasion damage to the cover glass. The durability of the front glass has important economic consequences, including determining the use of anti-reflective and/or anti-soiling coatings as well as the method and frequency of operational maintenance (cleaning). Artificial linear brush abrasion using Nylon 6/12 bristles was therefore examined to explore the durability of representative PV first-surfaces, i.e., the surface of a module incident to direct solar radiation. Specimens examined include silane surface functionalized-, roughened (etched)-, porous silica-coated-, fluoropolymer-coated-, and ceramic (TiO2 or ZrO2/SiO2/ZrO2/SiO2)-coated-glass, which are compared to monolithic-poly(methyl methacrylate) and -glass coupons. Characterization methods used in this study include: optical microscopy, ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) spectroscopy, sessile drop goniometry, white-light interferometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and depth-profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The corresponding characteristics examined include: surface morphology, transmittance (i.e., optical performance), surface energy (water contact angle), surface roughness, scratch width and depth, and chemical composition, respectively. The study here was performed to determine coating failure modes; identify characterization methods that can detect nascent failures; compare the durability of popular contemporary coating materials; identify their corresponding damage characteristics; and compare slurry and dry-dust abrasion. This study will also aid in developing an abrasion standard for the PV industry.},
doi = {10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1665884}, journal = {Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells},
issn = {0927-0248},
number = ,
volume = 219,
place = {United States},
year = {2020},
month = {9}
}
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Journal Article:
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Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110757
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