Texas-based Quanex’s new sealant helps to delay power losses over a PV module’s lifetime and extends useful lifetimes by locking out moisture.
Quanex has released a new product, the SolarGain Edge Sealant, which is a rubberized sealant for PV modules to protect against degradation due to moisture. The Edge Sealant is a polyisobutylene butyl rubber adhesive with integrated desiccant that has been designed to improve longevity, durability, and power retention over time.
Quanex said the sealant can prevent moisture ingress in modules, while also protecting cells, connections, and conductive coatings. The company said it can delay loss of power over a module’s lifetime by significantly delaying any degradation mechanisms activated by moisture, and that it can extend the useful life of a module by 10 to 15 years.
Quanex said emerging trends in the PV module market are driving the importance of moisture sealing. New technologies like perovskite solar cells and heterojunction (HTJ) cells have shown higher module efficiency, but they have also shown greater moisture sensitivity.
While it is commonly assumed that crystalline silicon panels are not sensitive to moisture ingress over the long term, recent testing by the company has shown SolarGain Edge Sealant’s ability to provide high levels of moisture protection in c-Si panels, extending lifetime power output.
Traditional ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulants have the potential to generate acid that can sap a panel of its power, due to the corrosiveness of the acid when exposed to moisture over time. Alternative encapsulants like thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) have demonstrated higher potential to resist moisture ingress versus EVA, but are considerably more expensive and difficult to handle during the assembly process.
The sealant product is backed by Quanex’s 50 years of experience. Its various solutions demonstrate many of the same attributes required in solar module sealants, including UV resistance, flexibility through a wide range of temperatures, and the ability to delay the migration of moisture.
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