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

Title: Using a butt joint test to evaluate photovoltaic edge seal adhesion

Abstract

Many photovoltaic (PV) technologies have been found to be sensitive to moisture that diffuses into a PV package. Even with the use of impermeable frontsheets and backsheets, moisture can penetrate from the edges of a module. To limit this moisture ingress pathway from occurring, manufacturers often use a low permeability polyisobutylene (PIB)-based edge seal filled with desiccant to further restrict moisture ingress. Moisture ingress studies have shown that these materials are capable of blocking moisture for the 25-year life of a module; but to do so, they must remain well-adhered and free of cracks. This work investigates the potential use of a butt joint test for evaluating the long-term durability of adhesion by looking for significant changes in the failure mode or quantitative value of a butt joint test. A round robin experiment was conducted using six different materials and two sample constructions, with and without effort to control edge pinch. Tests were evaluated looking at the strength of the bond, and the type of failure observed in a round robin test involving five laboratories. It was found that both the measured values, and the observed failure modes were repeatable and reproducible within at 95% confidence interval.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Golden Colorado
  2. Quanex IG Systems, Inc. Solon Ohio
  3. Royal Adhesives &, Sealants, Inc.Michigan Center Michigan city Michigan
  4. First Solar, Inc. Perrysburg Ohio
  5. AICA Kogyo Co., Ltd. Ama Japan
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1493621
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1493622; OSTI ID: 1510425
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5K00-73056
Journal ID: ISSN 2050-0505
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Energy Science & Engineering
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Energy Science & Engineering Journal Volume: 7 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2050-0505
Publisher:
Society of Chemical Industry, Wiley
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Subject:
42 ENGINEERING; adhesion; butt joint; edge seal; hermetic; moisture ingress; permeation

Citation Formats

Kempe, Michael, Korkmaz, Kaan, Postak, Lori, Booth, Dennis, Lu, Jerry, Kotarba, Casimir, Rupert, Lindsay, Molnar, Tawana, and Aoki, Tsutomu. Using a butt joint test to evaluate photovoltaic edge seal adhesion. United Kingdom: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1002/ese3.273.
Copy to clipboard
Kempe, Michael, Korkmaz, Kaan, Postak, Lori, Booth, Dennis, Lu, Jerry, Kotarba, Casimir, Rupert, Lindsay, Molnar, Tawana, & Aoki, Tsutomu. Using a butt joint test to evaluate photovoltaic edge seal adhesion. United Kingdom. doi:10.1002/ese3.273.
Copy to clipboard
Kempe, Michael, Korkmaz, Kaan, Postak, Lori, Booth, Dennis, Lu, Jerry, Kotarba, Casimir, Rupert, Lindsay, Molnar, Tawana, and Aoki, Tsutomu. Tue . "Using a butt joint test to evaluate photovoltaic edge seal adhesion". United Kingdom. doi:10.1002/ese3.273.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1493621,
title = {Using a butt joint test to evaluate photovoltaic edge seal adhesion},
author = {Kempe, Michael and Korkmaz, Kaan and Postak, Lori and Booth, Dennis and Lu, Jerry and Kotarba, Casimir and Rupert, Lindsay and Molnar, Tawana and Aoki, Tsutomu},
abstractNote = {Many photovoltaic (PV) technologies have been found to be sensitive to moisture that diffuses into a PV package. Even with the use of impermeable frontsheets and backsheets, moisture can penetrate from the edges of a module. To limit this moisture ingress pathway from occurring, manufacturers often use a low permeability polyisobutylene (PIB)-based edge seal filled with desiccant to further restrict moisture ingress. Moisture ingress studies have shown that these materials are capable of blocking moisture for the 25-year life of a module; but to do so, they must remain well-adhered and free of cracks. This work investigates the potential use of a butt joint test for evaluating the long-term durability of adhesion by looking for significant changes in the failure mode or quantitative value of a butt joint test. A round robin experiment was conducted using six different materials and two sample constructions, with and without effort to control edge pinch. Tests were evaluated looking at the strength of the bond, and the type of failure observed in a round robin test involving five laboratories. It was found that both the measured values, and the observed failure modes were repeatable and reproducible within at 95% confidence interval.},
doi = {10.1002/ese3.273},
journal = {Energy Science & Engineering},
number = 2,
volume = 7,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {2019},
month = {2}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
DOI: 10.1002/ese3.273
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Figures / Tables:

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 1: A, Schematic of properly laminated edge seal and; B, A laminated edge with severe edge pinch
All figures and tables (9 total)
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Evaluation of moisture ingress from the perimeter of photovoltaic modules
journal, May 2013

  • Kempe, Michael D.; Dameron, Arrelaine A.; Reese, Matthew O.
  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 22, Issue 11, p. 1159-1171
  • DOI: 10.1002/pip.2374

Durability studies for aerospace applications using peel and wedge tests
journal, June 2005

Moisture ingress prediction in polyisobutylene-based edge seal with molecular sieve desiccant
journal, October 2017

  • Kempe, Michael D.; Nobles, Dylan L.; Postak, Lori
  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 26, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/pip.2947

Durable polyisobutylene edge sealants for organic electronics and electrochemical devices
journal, May 2012

Investigation of a wedge adhesion test for edge seals
conference, September 2016

  • Kempe, Michael; Wohlgemuth, John; Miller, David
  • SPIE Optics + Photonics for Sustainable Energy, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.2239161

Transport phenomena through polymeric systems
journal, August 2001

Polyisobutylene: A most unusual polymer
journal, January 2008

  • Kunal, K.; Paluch, M.; Roland, C. M.
  • Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol. 46, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1002/polb.21473

Approaches to encapsulation of flexible CIGS cells
conference, August 2008

  • Olsen, L. C.; Gross, M. E.; Graff, G. L.
  • Solar Energy + Applications, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.796104

Modeling moisture ingress through polyisobutylene-based edge-seals: Polyisobutylene-based edge-seals
journal, January 2014

  • Kempe, Michael D.; Panchagade, Dhananjay; Reese, Matthew O.
  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 23, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1002/pip.2465
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Figures / Tables found in this record:

    FIGURE 1 (p. 2)figure
    FIGURE 2 (p. 3)figure
    FIGURE 3 (p. 4)figure
    FIGURE 4 (p. 4)figure
    FIGURE 5 (p. 4)figure
    FIGURE 6 (p. 5)figure
    TABLE 1 (p. 5)table
    FIGURE 7 (p. 6)figure
    FIGURE 8 (p. 6)figure
      [ × clear filter / sort ]
      Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: