Postproduction Coloring of Photovoltaic Modules with Imprinted Textiles

authored by

Timo Gewohn, Malte R. Vogt, Bianca Lim, Carsten Schinke, Rolf Brendel

Abstract

We present a customizable and potentially cost-efficient technique of coloring photovoltaic modules by laminating colored textiles onto photovoltaic cover glass (CoTex). A white nonwoven fabric is imprinted with any color, design, or graphic and is then laminated onto an arbitrary, frameless photovoltaic module. The short-circuit current losses of these modules range from 12% to 32% and depend on the type and coverage of the color, i.e., how much of the solar cell structure remains visible. Uncolored fabrics generate a grayish photovoltaic module with a short-circuit current density loss of 11% relative to a standard module. We fabricate CoTex building-integrated photovoltaic test modules and experimentally analyze their durability, UV stability, energy yield, hiding of the solar cells and appearance.

Organisation(s)

Solar Energy Section

External Organisation(s)

Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)

Type

Article

Journal

IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics

Volume

11

Pages

138-143

No. of pages

6

ISSN

2156-3381

Publication date

16.11.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2020.3034001 (Access: Closed)