OPTICAL CHARACTERISATION OF MODULE ENCAPSULANTS AND FRONTSHEETS FOR SELECTIVE EMITTER APPLICATIONS

Nitin Nampalli, Matthew Edwards, Brett Hallam, David Jordan

University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052 AUSTRALIA

Selective emitter cell technologies are known to

have higher short circuit current densities owing to
increased Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE)
particularly in the short-wavelength region of the solar
spectrum. However, much of this short-wavelength light
(380 nm and below) is lost to absorption in the EVA
and glass after encapsulation of the cells. Fig. 1 shows
that of the AM1.5 spectrum usable by a silicon solar cell
(280-1200 nm), the difference between the insolation
incident on the front-sheet and that transmitted to the
cell is about 11.5% for a standard EVA/Glass stack.
One method to reduce the resulting loss in module
current is by using encapsulants and front-sheets that are
more transparent in short wavelengths [1][2]. In this
investigation, the optical performance of a number of
commercial encapsulants and front-sheets is compared
based on transmittance studies and IQE measurements
of selective emitter cells encapsulated using these
materials.

Optical Characteristics of Standard EVA / Glass Laminate

300

400

5 x 5 cm2 laminates consisting of a front-sheet

(either glass or ETFE) and an encapsulant are fabricated
using a Spire laminator using the recommended
lamination parameters. A Perkin Elmer UV-Vis-NIR
Spectrometer set up with an integrating sphere is used to
measure the transmittance of the laminate stack in the

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

75

50

25

(Transmittance of Standard EVA / Glass laminate)

(Optical Path: Air - Glass - EVA - Air)

0
1.5

Transmission (Area1 - Area2)

= 11.46%
=
Loss
Area1

Area1
2
(837 W/m )

1.0

Area2
2
(740 W/m )

0.5

Insolation incident on laminate

Insolation transmitted to cell

0.0
100
80
60

Area1
(86%)

Area2
(72%)

IQE Loss =

(Area1 - Area2)
= 15.8%
Area1

40

IQE before encapsulation

IQE after encapsulation

20

2. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

500

100

Transmittance
(%)

1. INTRODUCTION

Insolation
-2
-1
(Wm nm )

This study investigates the optical characteristics of

various commercial encapsulants (EVA, PVB and
silicones) and front-sheet materials (solar glass and
ETFE) to evaluate their suitability for selective emitter
module encapsulation. Transmittance and IQE
measurements are used to demonstrate that improved
EVA (EVA3) and PVB (PVB2) formulations can
reduce post-encapsulation IQE loss to 9.4% and 8.7%
respectively in glass-based laminates (compared to
16.3% for standard EVA/glass). The use of ETFE frontsheets with improved PVB (PVB2) and liquid silicone
(SIL4) encapsulants further reduced IQE losses to 5.5%
and 2.8% respectively. Further mechanical and
environmental stability testing needs to be done to
determine if the presented material combinations are
suitable for commercial modules.

280 - 1200 nm range. The AM1.5 insolation in this

wavelength range is then multiplied by the sample
transmittance to estimate the spectral power transmitted
to the cell. From this, the associated transmission loss is
estimated. Fig. 2 lists all the encapsulant/front-sheet
combinations tested.
Four
promising
encapsulant/front-sheet
combinations are identified based on transmission losses
and are then used to encapsulate laser-doped selective
emitter (LDSE) cells fabricated at UNSW. Two
reference samples laminated with standard EVA and
glass are also prepared. Note that no back-sheets are
used in the encapsulation process so as to leave the rear
surface of the cell exposed for QE measurements. Fig. 3
lists the selected combinations used to encapsulate
LDSE cells.
The IQE of the cells is measured before and after
encapsulation. IQE loss is then quantified by calculating
the difference in areas under the IQE curves expressed
as a fraction of the area under the pre-encapsulation IQE
curve. As an example, Fig. 1 illustrates the graphical
calculation of transmission loss and IQE loss for a
standard EVA/glass laminate.

IQE
(%)

ABSTRACT

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

Wavelength (nm)

Fig. 1 Optical characteristics of a standard EVA / Glass

laminate showing sample transmittance, fractions of AM1.5
spectrum incident (black) and transmitted (red) by the sample,
and IQE of a selective emitter cell before (black) and after
encapsulation (red) with standard EVA/Glass. Areas under the
transmittance and IQE curves are used to calculate the
transmission loss and IQE loss respectively.

3. RESULTS
Fig. 2 lists all the encapsulant/front-sheet
combinations tested in the study and shows the
associated transmittance curves and transmission losses
(Optical path: Air - Front-sheet - Encapsulant - Air).
Fig. 3 lists the specific encapsulant/front-sheet
combinations chosen for LDSE cell encapsulation and
shows the associated IQE curves and IQE losses.

Transmittance of Encapsulant/Frontsheet laminates

Transmittance (%)

100

80

Laminate

Trans.
Loss

EVA2/Glass
EVA3/Glass
EVA5/Glass
PVB1/Glass
PVB2/Glass
PVB4/Glass
SIL2/Glass
SIL4/Glass

11.5%
10.2%
14.0%
12.9%
9.5%
12.4%
12.7%
8.8%

Laminate

Trans.
Loss

EVA2/ETFE
EVA3/ETFE
EVA5/ETFE
PVB1/ETFE
PVB2/ETFE
PVB4/ETFE
SIL2/ETFE
SIL4/ETFE

12.0%
9.6%
12.0%
12.1%
8.7%
11.8%
11.5%
8.0%

60

40

Glass Laminates

20

Glass: PPG Solarphire

Transmittance (%)

80

60

40

ETFE Laminates

20

ETFE: DuPont Tefzel

0
300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Encapsulant
Name
STR Photocap 15455P
STR Photocap 15505P
Lanxess Levamelt
Kuraray Trosifol R40
*Confidential
Dupont PV5212
WackerChemie Tectosil
ACC Silicones PV2218

Encapsulant
Name
STR Photocap 15455P
STR Photocap 15505P
Lanxess Levamelt
Kuraray Trosifol R40
*Confidential
Dupont PV5212
WackerChemie Tectosil
ACC Silicones PV2218

1000

1100

1200

Wavelength (nm)

Fig. 2 Transmittance plots for all tested encapsulant/frontsheet combinations. EVA3, PVB2 and SIL4 laminates have
the highest transmittance in the 280-400 nm range.
Transmission is particularly reduced in PVB2/Glass and
SIL4/Glass due to strong absorption in glass below 320 nm.
Absorption in the ETFE layer is comparatively less.

transmittance in the 280-320 nm range. This is

especially evident in the case of SIL4/Glass and
PVB2/Glass, which show higher transmission losses
(8.8% and 9.5% respectively) compared to SIL4/ETFE
and PVB2/ETFE (8.0% and 8.7%). However, it must be
noted that the higher transmittance of ETFE may be due
to the lower thickness of the ETFE film (0.03 mm)
compared to glass (3.2 mm).
Fig. 3 shows that cells encapsulated with SIL4,
EVA3 and PVB2 have higher IQE post-encapsulation in
short wavelengths compared to standard EVA (EVA2).
These results were expected given the higher
transmittance of the corresponding laminates in Fig. 2.
Among cells encapsulated using glass front-sheets,
PVB2/Glass and EVA3/Glass show a significant
improvement over the reference sample (EVA2/Glass)
with losses of 8.7% and 9.4% respectively for
PVB2/Glass and EVA3/Glass and 16.3% for
EVA2/Glass.
IQE losses are lower still for cells with ETFE frontsheets as can be seen with SIL4/ETFE, which has the
smallest IQE loss of all the tested cells (2.8%). The
limitation of glass as a front-sheet is also evident from
the PVB2/ETFE curve (IQE loss: 5.5%) compared to
the PVB2/Glass curve (IQE loss: 8.7%) in Fig. 3.This is
in line with the associated transmission loss figures
shown in Fig. 2 (8.7% and 9.5% respectively). While
this demonstrates the potential of ETFE from an optical
standpoint, further evaluation of impact resistance and
weathering will be needed to confirm if ETFE is a
suitable front-sheet material.
A thorough study of environmental stability and
mechanical properties will also be required for all
materials tested in this investigation to determine their
suitability for commercial selective emitter modules.

3. CONCLUSIONS
IQE: Before and After LDSE Cell Encapsulation
100

IQE (%)

80
Before After
Encapsulant /
Encaps. Encaps. Frontsheet

60

EVA2 / Glass
EVA2 / Glass
PVB2 / Glass
PVB2 / ETFE
EVA3 / Glass
SIL4 / ETFE

40
20
0
300

400

500

600

700

800

900

IQE
Loss

15.8%
16.9%
8.7%
5.5%
9.4%
2.8%
1000 1100

1200

In this study, two promising encapsulant materials,

EVA3 and PVB2, were identified for glass-based
selective emitter module laminates based on a study of
cell IQE losses (9.4% and 8.7% respectively) and
transmission losses alone. IQE losses were lowest for
the ETFE laminated cells, SIL4/ETFE (2.8%) and
PVB2/ETFE (5.5%). A thorough analysis of mechanical
properties and environmental stability is required before
firm conclusions can be drawn regarding the suitability
of these materials for selective emitter encapsulation.

Wavelength (nm)

Fig. 3 IQE curves of selective emitter cells before and after

encapsulation. The SIL4/ETFE combination shows the least
IQE loss while EVA3, PVB2 on glass show marked
improvements over the standard EVA2/Glass combination.

It can be seen from Fig. 2 that EVA3, PVB2 and

SIL4 have a better transmittance in short wavelengths
compared to other tested encapsulants. Another
observation is that glass is found to lower the

REFERENCES
[1] G. Hahn, Status of Selective Emitter
Technology, Proceedings of the 25th EU PVSEC,
(WIP, Valencia, 2010) p. 1091.
[2] N. E. Powell et al, Improved Spectral Response
of Silicone Encapsulated Photovoltaic Modules,
Proceedings of the 35th Photovoltaics Specialists
Conference, (IEEE, 2010) p. 2791