skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Develop silicone encapsulation systems for terrestrial silicon solar arrays. Interim report, February 15-December 31, 1978

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5805403· OSTI ID:5805403

The technical approach of the contract effort is divided into four sequential tasks: (1) Technology review - a review of: (a) the performance of clear silicone and modified silicone materials subjected to extended periods of outdoor weathering; (b) the experience of the photovoltaic industry using silicone encapsulants; (c) the industrial experience of protecting electronic devices with silicone materials; (d) The test results of weathering silicone-based protective coatings. (2) Generation of concepts for screening and processing silicone encapsulation systems; (a) selection of the most appropriate current silicone and silicone-based coatings for the intended application; (b) identification of viable encapsulation systems and potentially cost effective materials of fabrication; (c) selection of stress tests for the encapsulation concepts; (d) ranking of the encapsulation concepts based on their performance in the screening tests. (3) Assessment of encapsulation concepts: (a) fabrication of mini-modules using state-of-the-art technologies and the best encapsulation concepts from the screening test; (b) dabulation and ranking of the test esults based on performance, cost and processability. (4) Evaluation of encapsulation concepts: mini-modules designed to TPL specifications and utilizing the highest ranked concepts from 3 (b) will be built, stressed and evaluated. The status of the project is described in detail.

Research Organization:
Dow Corning Corp., Midland, MI (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
NAS-7-100-954995
OSTI ID:
5805403
Report Number(s):
DOE/JPL/954995-3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English