May 16, 2022
BASF subsidiary, trinamiX GmbH recently launched a solution for rapid onsite material analysis of photovoltaic (PV) module encapsulations and backsheets. With trinamiX’s Mobile Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Solution, customers now gain transparency about the materials built into those protective layers of PV modules. With a handheld device, users can access relevant information about the identified material on their smartphone in a matter of seconds. This way, malfunctioning and poorly performing PV modules caused by material flaws in the protective layers can be either identified during regular checks at solar farms or reclaimed upon arrival as part of incoming quality controls.
During their operational lifetime, PV modules are subject to environmental stresses which vary depending on weather-related and local factors. Under these circumstances, polymeric materials as used in encapsulants and backsheets are the decisive parts ensuring the highest performance, protection, and safe operation of critical PV components inside the modules.
“The stability of the protective polymeric materials is key to achieve high reliability of the active PV components over the whole life cycle of a PV module. Yet manufacturers only reveal little information about the materials built into the PV modules,” explains Dr. Gabriele C. Eder, senior researcher at the Austrian research Institute for Chemistry and Technology (OFI). “Therefore, the non-destructive material identification of the polymeric components in PV modules is an important task, especially when module failures and degradation occur.”
After successfully launching various solutions in the field of material identification for the plastics and recycling industry, trinamiX teamed up with the Austrian Research Institute for Chemistry and Technology (OFI) and the Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH (PCCL) to develop an easy-to-use solution to address the transparency gap, benefitting customers across the entire PV industry.
