• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.13-22
• /
• 2020

As the supply of photovoltaic (PV) increases worldwide, the cumulative installations in 2018 were 7.9 and 560 GW in Korea and the world, respectively. Typically, when the ground on commercial PV modules is installed, the area is limited; hence, new designs of PV modules are required to install additional PVs. Among the new design of PV modules, lightweight PV modules can be utilized in PV systems, such as buildings, farmlands, and floating PV. Concerning the investigation of lightweight PV modules, several studies on materials for replacing low-iron tempered glass, which comprises approximately 65% of the PV module weight, have been conducted. However, materials that are used as substitutes for glass should possess similar lightweight properties and reliability as glass. In this study, experimental tests were performed to evaluate the applicability of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) film with excellent resistance to water and aging as a front material of PV modules. The transmittance and ultraviolet properties of the ETFE film were determined and compared with those of glass. A 1-cell module and laboratory-scale 24-cell module were manufactured using the ETFE film and glass, and the electrical output was measured and analyzed. Furthermore, damp heat and thermal cycle tests were conducted to evaluate the reliability of the ETFE film module. Based on the experimental results, the electrical output and reliability of the ETFE film module were similar to those of the glass module, and the ETFE film could be used as the front material of PV modules.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2019

Recently, the installation capacity of PV (photovoltaic) systems has been increasing not only field installation but also floating PV, farm land, BIPV/BAPV. For this reason, the new design and materials of PV module are needed. In particular, in order to apply a PV system to a building, lightweight of the PV module is essential. PV modules made of generally used texturing glass are excellent in output and reliability, but there is a limit to the weight that can be reduced. For the lightweight of the PV module, it necessary to use a film instead of a glass. However, the application of film rather than a glass may cause various problems such as decrease in photocurrent by decrease in transmittance and a increase of CTM (cell to module) loss, a degradation of the reliability, and so on. In this paper, PV modules using Ultra barrier film, which is recently a lot of interest as a substitute for a glass, its characteristic analysis and reliability test were conducted. The transmittance and UV characteristics of each material were verified, and the output of the fabricated 1 cell PV module was measured. In addition, 24 cell PV modules were fabricated at the lab-scale and its reliability tests were conducted. As a result of the experiment, the reliability characteristics of the ultra barrier film PV module were excellent, and it was confirmed that it could be used as the front material of the PV module instead of glass

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.107-110
• /
• 2022

Lightweight and flexible photovoltaic (PV) modules are attractive for building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications because of their easy construction and applicability. In this study, we fabricated lightweight and flexible c-Si PV modules using ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) front cover and shingled design string cells. The ETFE front cover instead of glass made the PV modules lighter in weight, and the shingled design string cells increased the flexibility. Finally, we fabricated a PV module with a conversion power of 240.08 W at an area of 1.25 m² and weighed only 2 kg/m². Moreover, to check the PV module's flexibility, we conducted a bending test. The difference of conversion power between the modules before and after bending shown was only 1.7 W, which showed a power reduction rate of about 0.7%.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.56-61
• /
• 2022

Recently, the expansion of the domestic solar market due to the promotion of eco-friendly and alternative energy-related policies is promising, and it is expected to lead the high-efficiency/high-power module market based on M10 or larger cells to reduce LCOE, 540-560W, M12 based on M10 cells Compared to the existing technology with an output of 650-700W based on cells, it is necessary to secure competitiveness through the development of modules with 600W based on M10 cells and 750W based on M12 cells. For the development of high efficiency/high-power n-type bifacial, it is necessary to secure a lightweight technology and structure due to the increase in weight of the glass to glass module according to the large area of the module. Since the mechanical strength characteristics according to the large area and high weight of the module are very important, design values such as a frame of a new structure that can withstand the mechanical load of the Mechanical Load Test and the location of the mounting hole are required. In this study, a structural analysis design model was introduced to secure mechanical reliability according to the enlargement of the module area, and the design model was verified through the mechanical load test of the actual product. It can be used as a design model to secure the mechanical reliability required for PV modules by variables such as module area, frame shape, and the location and quantity of mounting holes of the structural analysis model verified. A relationship of output drop can be obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.110-114
• /
• 2021

In this study, we fabricated light-weight solar module for various applications such as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), vehicles, trains, etc. Ethylene tetra fluoro ethylene (ETFE) film was applied as a material to replace the cover glass, which occupies more than 65% of the weight of the PV module. Glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) was applied to the ones with a low durability by replacing the cover glass to ETFE. Moreover, to achieve a high solar power conversion in this study, we applied a shingled design to weight reduced solar modules. The shingled module with GRP shows 183.7 W of solar-to-power conversion, and the output reduction rate after weight load test was 1.14%.