EVALUATION OF GEL CONTENT-MEASUREMENT-METHOD FOR MASS PRODUCTION OF GLASS-FOIL BASED CRYSTALLINE SILICON PV MODULES

摘要

Currently the Soxhlet extraction is the most common method in solar industry to measure the gel content of cross linked ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). This extraction method is insufficiently applicable for continuous production. Therefore a new reliable measuring device was evaluated to determine the gel content. This paper shows the results of the evaluation of the currently implemented characterization method for mass production. The method is nondestructive and measures around three times more accurately than the Soxhlet method. Especially the short test duration and the higher measurement accuracy enable a faster and more exact process control, quality control and recipe evaluation. An exact gel content area distribution of single modules or the complete laminator heating plate is possible additionally. Furthermore the dependence between the gel content and different PV-laminate materials is demonstrated.