Reducing Photovoltaic Module Temperature using Improved Backsheet Materials

The module temperature increase from ambient can be decreased by using optimal packaging materials. The focus of this paper is to reduce module temperature using innovative backsheet materials available in the industry. In this work, number of single-cell PV modules with glass-EVA-cell-EVAsubstrate structure were fabricated by varying the substrate material (different backsheets and glass) and their field operating temperatures were directly compared with conventional backsheet material of Tedlar-Polyester-Tedlar (TPT). The results showed that the Nominal Operating Cell Temperature (NOCT) of thermally conductive backsheet (TCB) modules was about 1 °C lower than the conventional TPT modules. The TCBs clearly show higher thermal conductivities and lower operating temperatures than TPT while glass modules show higher NOCT than TPT modules.