Impact of materials on back-contact module reliability

This paper discusses the impact of several combinations of encapsulants, conductive adhesives and back-sheet foils on ECN's back-contact modules performance and reliability. Damp-heat (85°C; 85% R.H) and thermal cycling (-40°C; +85°C) tests were performed up to twice as long as described in the IEC-61215 standard, i.e. 2000 hours of damp-heat and 400 thermal cycles. These tests have been identified as the most important tests for this technology. After climatic chamber testing, the modules were analyzed visually and by electro-luminescence imaging.