MUNICH, Germany— A thermoplastic encapsulant from Wacker Chemie A.G. is said to prevent undesired solar-cell performance losses.
Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin tested solar modules that had been encapsulated with Wacker's Tectosil thermoplastic silicone elastomer. The testers confirmed that such modules do not display leakage currents as a result of potential-induced degradation.
These effects can occur in the event of higher voltages and can lead to significant performance losses in the solar module, Wacker said.
Undesired leakage currents on the cell surface can cause potential-induced degradation. But the effects of this can be suppressed or avoided altogether using Tectosil encapsulants, according to measurements by the Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin.
Solar modules encapsulated with Tectosil were tested as per IEC standard 60904-1 at a system voltage of 1,000 volts. Unlike the reference modules, which, in part, displayed PID effects, the Berlin testers could not ascertain any PID-related performance losses in the Tectosil modules, according to Wacker.
The modules encapsulated with Wacker's material showed no signs of PID, either in their voltage characteristics or during subsequent electroluminescence analysis, the company said.