Do glassless solar cells use PET films?

PET films offer excellent electrical insulation and optical transmittance, making them a suitable material for the front-side cover sheet of solar cell modules and reducing the overall module weight. In this study, we investigated the reliability of glassless modules that use PET films as the front cover material.

What are thin-film solar cells?

Several thin-film solar cells, such as those based on Cu (In, Ga)Se 2 (CIGS), CdTe, and amorphous Si, have been developed as lightweight and flexible modules [, , , ]. Although these modules have a smaller market share than c-Si solar cells, their substrates are two orders of magnitude thinner.

What are flexible perovskite solar cells?

Flexible perovskite solar cells are lightweight, bendable, and applicable to curved surfaces. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has become the substrate of choice compared to other plastic substrates like polyethylene naphthalate. PET is not only stable but also much cheaper to manufacture, an important factor for photovoltaics (PV).

How are solar cells encapsulated?

The strings at the busbar were connected by machine soldering, and the strings of the four-cell modules were connected in series by hand soldering. To fabricate a lightweight solar cell module, we used a 0.025 mm-thick PET film sheet as both a front-cover and a backsheet. The solar cells were encapsulated with EVA.

What is the future of solar cells?

The development of lightweight and flexible modules, both for thin-film solar cells and c-Si solar cells, along with the utilization of stacked solar cell modules, will be an important future issue in the solar cell industry.

How are lightweight solar cells with c-Si solar cells fabricated?

Lightweight solar cell modules with c-Si solar cells were fabricated using PET films. The fabricated modules have flexible properties. The lightweigh and flexible modules exhibit high reliability under both high temperature and high humidity conditions.