The effect of sunshine testing on terrestrial solar cell system components

Abstract

Samples of FEP-encapsulated silicon solar cells and various potential encapsulation or cover materials were subjected to both accelerated and real-time testing. The durability of the samples was determined by measuring changes in solar cell output or optical transmission as a function of exposure. The tests revealed some problem areas in the structural integrity of the materials, e.g., delamination and cracking in FEP. These problems were probably related to defects in fabrication. FEP and Aclar had the least transmission loss after accelerated exposure equivalents of 5 and 3 years, respectively.