2.5 Minutes Lamination Process and the Influences of the Degree of Cross-Linking and the Moisture Ingress on the Degradation of PV Modules

Faster lamination processes and more sustainable modules will play a critical role to meet the industries demand for green energy. This study presents the moisture influences of short lamination processes, achieved by increasing the lamination temperature up to 180 °C, and compares these with modules laminated at a common lamination temperature of 150 °C. The investigations are conducted mainly on mini modules, but additionally to those also a standard 60 cell module is built and exposed to the damp heat (DH) test to have a better understanding about the influences of the fast lamination process. The mini modules were exposed to DH for 1500 and 3000 hours and were measured before and after the accelerated ageing in terms of IV-measurements and peel tests. We observed no severe degradation caused by the higher lamination temperature in terms of moisture ingress. During the study we also investigated the cost of the 2,5 minutes curing process and discussed the potential benefit for module production facilities. The results of the simulation showed that module manufacturers could reduce their module costs up to 1,3% per module with the faster process.