Engineered Conductive Materials (ECM) has introduced two new ‘Conductive Stringer Attach Adhesives that reduce costs. The DB-1541-S3 adhesive employs a material formulation that has been optimized for improved conductivity and stability on molybdenum substrates while reducing the silver content to reduce cost. The DB-1538-2 adhesive is available as a one- or two-part adhesive, allowing costs to be saved on dry ice shipments and -40°C storage of one-part systems. Both materials can be used for thin-film, organic and thinned silicon solar modules.
Problem
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Material costs make-up a considerable part of the cell and module production costs. Efforts are required to offer lower material costs while maintaining quality to provide required end product life-time requirements.
Solution
DB-1541-S3 is the latest addition to ECM’s full line of conductive stringer attach adhesives, conductive adhesives for back contact crystalline silicon, thin-film and via fill applications, as well as conductive grid inks for photovoltaic applications. The DB-1541-S3 has more than 12 percent lower silver loading than the standard DB-1541-S series of conductive stringer attach adhesives, resulting in a significant price reduction while maintaining optimized rheology for dispensing and damp heat resistance and conductivity stability on tin, tin-silver and silver-plated ribbons. Even with the lower silver content, this material is claimed to have a lower volume resistivity than DB-1541-S. The DB-1541-S3 features a rubber-like flexibility that can be used for flexible photovoltaic applications with high peel strength to withstand the stresses induced in reel-to-reel manufacturing processes. The DB-1538-2 Conductive Stringer Attach Adhesive is available as a one- or two-part adhesive. Companies that want to save money on dry ice shipments and -40°C storage of one-part systems easily can meter-mix the two-part DB-1538-2, which has a 100 to 20 mix ratio by volume. The DB-1538-2 features low bleed on AZO and other transparent conductive oxides while maintaining optimized rheology for dispensing. The DB-1538-2 series absorbs stress to withstand thermal cycling from -40°C to 85°C as required for IEC certification,
Applications
Both the DB-1541-S3 and DB-1538-2 can be used in thin-film, organic and thinned silicon solar modules. DB-1538-2 Conductive Stringer Attach Adhesive, which is designed for use in thin-film, organic and thinned silicon solar modules.
Platform
DB-1538-2, which has a 100 to 20 mix ratio by volume. The DB-1541-S3 features a rubber-like flexibility.
Availability
July 2011 onwards.