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Erscheinungsjahr
- 2014 (2) (entfernen)
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- Englisch (2)
Referierte Publikation
- ja (2)
Schlagworte
- Encapsulation foil (2)
- Snail trails (2)
- Additives (1)
- Ag contact finger (1)
- Back-sheet foil (1)
- Cell cracks (1)
- Nanoparticles (1)
- Silver nanoparticles (1)
After several months of operation, many photovoltaic (PV) modules develop a discolouration defect called snail trails which appear as irregular dark traces across the cells. These traces are caused by silver nanoparticles accumulating within the encapsulation foil directly above the grid finger. In this work we systematically investigate combinations of encapsulation and back-sheet foils with respect to their susceptibility for snail trails. We can show that certain additive compositions within the encapsulation and back sheet foils are critical for the formation of the discolouring silver nanoparticles. We suggest a reaction model explaining the formation of snail trails from a chemical point of view. This fundamental understanding allows the rapid testing of foils for their snail trail sensitivity as well as the special design of resistant foils.
After some months of operation, a number of PV modules develop a discolouration defect called 'snail trails', or 'snail traces', which appear as irregular dark stripes across the cells. Whereas these traces were soon identified as discoloured silver contacts along the cell edges or at micro cracks, the chemical and mechanistic reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been resolved in detail. In this work we show that silver nanoparticles accumulating within the encapsulation foil cause the brownish discolouration, and that certain additives of encapsulation and back sheet foils trigger the formation of these nanoparticles.