Accelerated Aging Study Of Backsheet Repair With Flowable Silicone Sealant

Kayla Kenney1, Guy Beaucarne2, Jorge Lima Garcia2, Emmanual Jadot2, Anika Gassner3, Gabriele Eder3 1Dow Silicones Corporation, Auburn, MI, United States /2Dow Silicones Belgium SRL, Seneffe, --, Belgium /3OFI - Austrian Research Institute for Chemistry and Technology, Wien, --, Austria

We investigate the repair of polyamide AAA backsheets on complete PV modules that had been degraded during years of operation in a solar park, and study the durability of the repair through further climate chamber aging. PV modules with badly degraded AAA backsheets were repaired with a layer of silicone repair coating material of 400 µm average thickness. Electrical insulation was restored by the repair procedure. For the aging study in climate chambers, Sequence B of IEC 61730, which includes damp heat, UV and humidity freeze steps, was selected. The insulation resistance was found to be maintained after sequence B even though visual inspection revealed that preexisting damage continued to worsen.