Evaluation of anti-reflection coatings on cover glasses for solar modules; getting down to the nitty gritty

Author

Harder, Nils-P ; Blieske, Ulf ; Neande, Marcus ; Neumann, Dirk ; Mahe, Erwan ; Mogensen, Paul

Author_Institution

Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland, Herzogenrath, Germany

fYear

2005

Firstpage

1792

Lastpage

1795

Abstract

Cost-efficient anti-reflection coatings on solar modules can help reduce the cost of photovoltaics. The efficiency increase that can be expected from such coatings is in the range of 2 - 3%. While this effect is noticeable and important, it is still small; and precise measurements as well as suitable experimental procedures are required if anti-reflection coatings are to be evaluated using only a small number of modules. This paper highlights optical effects related to the interface between the solar cell and the glass/EVA (lamination foil). We show by means of optical simulation that neglecting these effects can easily obscure the benefit of an anti-reflection coating.

Keywords

antireflection coatings; encapsulation; glass; refractive index; solar cells; antireflection coatings; cover glasses; glass; lamination foil; optical effects; optical simulation; solar modules; Coatings; Costs; Fabrication; Glass; Optical refraction; Optical scattering; Optical variables control; Photovoltaic cells; Refractive index; Silicon compounds;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005. Conference Record of the Thirty-first IEEE

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8707-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488499

Filename

1488499