TY - CONF A1 - Agea Blanco, Boris A1 - Reinsch, Stefan A1 - Meyer, Christian A1 - Müller, Ralf A1 - Günster, Jens T1 - Quantification of sand erosion on PV solar glass N2 - Solar glass in arid and semi-arid regions is exposed to sand storms which can affect the durability of PV modules. Related erosion processes have been extensively studied but the results given are difficult to compare due to being obtained by different variables like particle speed and sand mass. This study correlates the damage of solar panels to the cumulative impact energy as a global parameter. T2 - 91. Glastechnische Tagung CY - Weimar, Germany DA - 29.05.2017 KW - Glass KW - Sandblasting KW - Erosion KW - Sandstorm KW - Transmittance KW - Roughness PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42856 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Agea Blanco, Boris A1 - Reinsch, Stefan A1 - Müller, Ralf A1 - Günster, Jens T1 - The Effect of Sandblasting on Module Glazing N2 - Surface roughness, RZ, normal transmittance, ΤN, total transmittance, ΤT, and photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency, ηS, were measured for commercial solar glass plates and PV test modules identically sandblasted with different loads of quartz sand (200–400 μm), impact inclination angles, and sand particle speed. Measured data are presented versus the specific energy uptake during sand blasting, E (J/m2). Cracks, adhering particles, and scratch-like textures probably caused by plastic flow phenomena could be observed after sand blasting. Their characteristic size was much smaller than that of sand particles. After blasting and subsequent cleaning, the glass surface was still covered with adhering glass particles. These particles, cracks, and scratch-like textures could not be removed by cleaning. For sand blasting with α = 30° inclination angle and E = 30 000 J/m2, normal transmittance, total transmittance, and relative module efficiency decreased by 29%, 2% and ∽2%, respectively. This finding indicates that diffusive transmission of light substantially contributes to PV module efficiency and that the module efficiency decrease caused by sand erosion can be better estimated from total than by normal transmittance measurements. T2 - 7th SOPHIA PV-Module Reliability Workshop CY - Freiburg, Germany DA - 06.06.2017 KW - Photovoltaic Module KW - Sandstorm KW - Erosion KW - Sandblasting KW - Transmittance KW - Roughness KW - Efficiency PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-42861 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -