By Nitin Kumar, Program Manager, Intermolecular, Inc.; Guizhen Zhang, Process Engineer, Intermolecular, Inc.; Nikhil Kalyankar, Process Engineer, Intermolecular, Inc.; Minh Anh Nguyen, Process Engineer, Intermolecular, Inc.; Jian Li, Process Engineer and Project Manager, Intermolecular, Inc.; Henry Yang, Member of Technical Staff, Intermolecular, Inc.; Zhi-wen Sun, Principal Scientist, Intermolecular, Inc.
This paper presents fluorescence detection as a new tool for the investigation of the degradation of EVA. The superior sensitivity of the setup contained herein allows an early assessment of the changes of the EVA after only 20 hours of damp-heat exposure. A newly developed scanning system allows the spatially resolved inspection of entire PV modules. Degradation of the encapsulants was detected after two years’ outdoor exposure, as was the effect of cracks in c-Si cells, which coincide well with cracks made visible by electroluminescence.
