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  4. Nanoindentation Reveals Crosslinking Behavior of Solar Encapsulants-The Methodological Advantages over Bulk Methods
 
research article

Nanoindentation Reveals Crosslinking Behavior of Solar Encapsulants-The Methodological Advantages over Bulk Methods

Mansour, Djamel Eddine
•
Herzog, Christoph
•
Christoefl, Petra
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October 1, 2021
Polymers

The power degradation and failure of photovoltaic (PV) modules can be caused by changes in the mechanical properties of the polymeric components during the module lifetime. This paper introduces instrumented nanoindentation as a method to investigate the mechanical properties of module materials such as polymeric encapsulants. To this end, nanoindentation tests were carried out on ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) surfaces, which have been separated from the glass panel. Two types of time-dependent indentation cycle modes, the time domain (creep mode) and frequency domain (dynamic mode) were performed to determine the viscoelastic behavior. For each mode, a corresponding model was applied to calculate the main mechanical properties. The general capability of nanoindentation as cross-linking determination method is investigated with the methodological advantages over bulk mechanical characterization methods. A large number of Glass/EVA/Backsheet laminates were built using different lamination conditions resulting in different degrees of curing. Both indentation modes indicate good modulus sensitivity for following the EVA crosslinking in its early stages but could not reliably differentiate between samples with higher EVA branching. Additional dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) characterization was used as an established method to validate the indentation measurements. Both nanoindentation and DMA tensile mode produce similar quantitative viscoelastic responses, in the form of the damping factor parameter, demonstrated for three different frequencies at room temperature. A statistical study of the data reveals the advantages for the investigation of multilayer PV laminates by using nanoindenation as a surface method while also being applicable to field aged modules.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.3390/polym13193328
Web of Science ID

WOS:000706985500001

Author(s)
Mansour, Djamel Eddine
Herzog, Christoph
Christoefl, Petra
Pitta Bauermann, Luciana
Oreski, Gernot
Schuler, Andreas  
Philipp, Daniel
Gebhardt, Paul
Date Issued

2021-10-01

Published in
Polymers
Volume

13

Issue

19

Article Number

3328

Subjects

Polymer Science

•

nanoindentation

•

encapsulant

•

degree of curing

•

creep measurement

•

frequency sweep measurement

•

dynamic mechanical analysis

•

mechanical-properties

•

elastic-modulus

•

thermal drift

•

indentation

•

creep

•

hardness

•

load

•

tool

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LESO-PB  
Available on Infoscience
November 6, 2021
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/182787
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