Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2-2011

Publication Title

34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

Publisher

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Publisher Location

Golden, CO

First page number:

1

Last page number:

10

Abstract

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems have great potential to reduce photovoltaic (PV) electricity costs because of the relatively low cost of optical components as compared to PV cells. A transparent polymeric material is used to optically couple the PV cell to optical components and is thus exposed to the concentrated light source at elevated temperatures. In this work polymeric encapsulant materials are positioned close to a Xenon arc lamp to expose them to ultraviolet radiation (UV) that is about 42 times as intense as sunlight. Furthermore, different glass types are used as filters to modify the spectral distribution of light in the UV range. A strong sensitivity of non-silicone-based encapsulants to light below ~350 nm is demonstrated. Of all the materials examined in this study, the polydimethyl silicone samples performed the best. The next best material was an ionomer which maintained optical transmission but became photo-oxidized where exposed to the atmosphere.

Keywords

Concentrating photovoltaic; Solar energy

Controlled Subject

Solar concentrators; Photovoltaic power generation; Photovoltaic power systems; Strains and stresses--Testing

Disciplines

Oil, Gas, and Energy | Sustainability

File Format

pdf

File Size

520 KB

Language

English

Comments

Presented at the 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC '09): Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:7-12 June 2009.

NREL Report No. CP-5200-46085

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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