Does thin-film solar photovoltaic panels need PVB

What is the difference between PVB and thermoplastic film?

Thermoplastic film: A non-chemically cross-linked, hot-melt film without added peroxides. It has the characteristics of recyclable utilization and repeated processing. PVB is a thermoplastic film, mainly suitable for BIPV (Building Integrated Solar Panel) Solar Panel modules.

What are thin film solar cells?

Thin film solar cells are an established alternative PV technology, the most important of those being cadmium telluride, copper indium gallium diselenide and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H).

Are thin film solar cells a viable alternative to crystalline silicon?

The PV market is currently dominated by crystalline silicon solar technologies, but thin film solar cells are emerging as a viable cost effective alternative to crystalline silicon.

Is PVB a good encapsulant for solar panels?

Before EVA became the dominant encapsulant, polyvinyl butyral (PVB) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were commonly used as silicon solar panel encapsulants (Czanderna and Pern, 1996, Kempe, 2011). In terms of properties, PVB has some clear advantages over EVA, such as good adhesion without crosslinking and fast processing time (Peike et al., 2013).

What encapsulation film does a PVB module use?

The front of single-glass modules uses high-transmittance EVA film, and the back panel uses UV-cut EVA film. Both the front and back of the double-glass module use high-transparency POE film. Thin-film modules commonly use PVB film, UV cut-off POE film and thermoplastic POE film as the main encapsulations.

Can PVB film replace encapsulants in double-glazing elements with integrated solar cells?

Since 2005, efforts have been afoot in the PV module industry and the glass industry to replace existing encapsulants with PVB film in double-glazing elements with integrated solar cells in order to significantly enhance the standard of safety of laminated module glass in Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV).