France-based Solarcloth examined and in contrast three shade options: MorphoColor interference sheets from the German Fraunhofer Institute; ColorQuant interference encapsulants from the German firm Lenzing Plastics; and diffuser movies from Switzerland-based Solaxess.
From pv journal in France
French CIGS specialist Solarcloth goals to combine shade into versatile CIGS photovoltaic modules.
The firm examined and in contrast three shade options: MorphoColor interference sheets from the German Fraunhofer Institute; ColorQuant interference encapsulants from the German firm Lenzing Plastics; and diffuser movies from Switzerland-based Solaxess.
The firm’s CEO, Alain Janet, mentioned pv journal in France that the applied sciences examined have been chosen based mostly on seven important standards, specifically, yield degradation, the impression of coloring supplies on the product and the surroundings, reliability, angular stability of shade, price, the quantity of stock required, and the potential for scaling as much as industrial scale.
“Color PV is a brand new playground, the place it has been tough to stability – till now – stability, price when it comes to industrial scale, and buyer expectations when it comes to efficiency and visible enchantment, ” mentioned Janet.
Fraunhoser’s MorphoColor answer relies on a stack of skinny layers that enable an impact of successive reflections, interferences and diffractions that lead to an angular shade distribution of area. The stack has a thickness of roughly 800 nm and might be deposited by pyrolysis spray on a clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate that may be built-in into the module between two layers of encapsulant.
“The effectivity loss generated may be very small, within the order of 6% of the unique cell effectivity, even with white or grey movies. We noticed glorious homogeneity and shade saturation utilizing the black backsheet ,” mentioned Paul Rivas, a pupil of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, who supervised the examine throughout his internship at SolarCloth. However, he defined that “the fragility of the PET substrate and the poor adhesion of the nano-print which was examined within the spring pushed their implementation till the tip of 2024.”
ColorQuant interference encapsulants from Lenzing Plastics present glorious resistance between the sheets and the backsheet used. “But there’s a clear mismatch between the colour sheet of the entrance face and the frontsheet utilized in SolarCloth. Also, the low saturation of the perceived shade shouldn’t be very enticing and isn’t very efficient in hiding the cell,” mentioned Janet.
The diffuser movies from Solaxess firm, for his or her half, present robust ageing and good aesthetics. On the opposite hand, the gadget has poor adhesion efficiency and important yield loss, “particularly for gentle grey and white movies.”
The MorphoColor interference sheets from the German Fraunhofer Institute, with which SolarCloth signed a growth settlement, offered one of the best outcomes. “We depend on this answer, beneath improved adhesion and a aggressive worth for the MorphoFlex model,” mentioned Janet, saying that the yields obtained have been “very encouraging” and the method was “costlier , however affordable.” Once the answer is validated, the modules are straight “tinted” on the SolarCloth.
This content material is protected by copyright and might not be reused. If you need to cooperate with us and need to reuse a few of our content material, please contact: [email protected].
Popular content material
