Durability and Reliability of Polymers and Other Materials in Photovoltaic Modules

Durability and Reliability of Polymers and Other Materials in Photovoltaic Modules describes the durability and reliability behavior of polymers used in Si-photovoltaic modules and systems, particularly in terms of physical aging and degradation process/mechanisms, characterization methods, accelerated exposure chamber and testing, module level testing, and service life prediction. The book compares polymeric materials to traditional materials used in solar applications, explaining the degradation pathways of the different elements of a photovoltaic module, including encapsulant, front sheet, back sheet, wires and connectors, adhesives, sealants, and more.

In addition, users will find sections on the tests needed for the evaluation of polymer degradation and aging, as well as accelerated tests to aid in materials selection. As demand for photovoltaics continues to grow globally, with polymer photovoltaics offering significantly lower production costs compared to earlier approaches, this book will serve as a welcome resource on new avenues.

• Provides comprehensive coverage of photovoltaic polymers, from fundamental degradation mechanisms, to specific case studies of durability and materials failure
• Offers practical, actionable information in relation to service life prediction of photovoltaic modules and accelerated testing for materials selection
• Includes up-to-date information and interpretation of safety regulations and testing of photovoltaic modules and materials

Dr. Hsinjin Edwin Yang received a B.S. in Chemistry from Fu-Jen University (TAIWAN), and a Ph.D. in Polymer Physical Chemistry from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (USA). Dr. Yang is a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). He has over 28 years of success in technical leader and management experiences at companies, such as Eastman Kodak, Eastman Chemical, Essilor (Global leader in Ophthalmic lenses), Baxter (Global leader in Biomedical Devices and Pharmaceuticals) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) (Global leader in safety certifications and testing of industrial products), and his own consulting business called Pioneer Scientific Solutions. He has issued over 20 patents, published over 50 papers and offered more than 70 invited seminars/lectures in the technical conferences, academia and industrials worldwide. He has made significant and creative contributions to plastics science and technology in the following areas: Durability and safety of solar photovoltaic polymers/ materials; Quantitative understanding of polymers flammability; Innovative injection-compression molding design and process for zero birefringence polycarbonate lens; Discovering many miscible blends of polyesters and polycarbonates; Establishing the correlation between free volume behaviors and barrier performance of polymers; Service life prediction of performance plastics.

Roger French is the F. Alex Nason Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. He is the founder of the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension Center, a world class-research center dedicated to lifetime and degradation science. He previously worked in Central Research and Development at DuPont, and was Adjunct Professor of Materials Science at the University of Pennsylvania

Laura Bruckman is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. She is currently working at the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension Centre at Case Western, with specific research interests in quantitative spectroscopy, data science and analytics, polymer material degradation, and photovoltaics.