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Measurement and modelling of water ingress into double‐glass photovoltaic modules
Author(s) -
Wisniewski David,
Lv Ruirui,
Nair Selvakumar V.,
Jaubert JeanNicolas,
Xu Tao,
Ruda Harry E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.3069
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , moisture , materials science , ethylene vinyl acetate , diffusion , saturation (graph theory) , water content , polymer , composite material , environmental science , electrical engineering , thermodynamics , geotechnical engineering , engineering , physics , mathematics , combinatorics , copolymer
Polymer encapsulants are an essential component in photovoltaic (PV) devices, providing mechanical support, optical coupling, and electrical and physical isolation. However, moisture ingress into the module can degrade these polymers and subsequently the performance of the device. In this paper, we report experimental measurements of the temporal evolution of moisture content in ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant in a double‐glass PV module. Using physical properties of EVA as determined by water vapour transmission rate measurements, we simulate diffusion of water into the module using a finite element model. The model accounts for realistic geometry of our module and is used to simulate accelerated test conditions and outdoor operation in geographic locations. Using the calculated results, we propose two schemes using the accelerated test results to understand the behaviour of modules operating in humid climates. Finally, we show that the time needed to reach the saturation water concentration can be increased by as much as a factor of two by reducing the initial water content in EVA films.