Determination of Crystallinity and Thermal Stability of Newly Developed Thermoplastic Polyolefin Encapsulant for the c-Si PV Module Application

Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) is a newly developed non-crosslinking encapsulant for the crystalline silicon PV modules lamination. The degree of crystallinity and thermal stability of TPO have been studied and compared with the most commonly used ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer encapsulant. The peak melting point and the degree of crystallinity have been determined with the help of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis. The crystallinity of both the encapsulant also studied with x-ray diffraction. DSC results show that there is no crosslinking reaction involved in the TPO encapsulant. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is done to determine the thermal stability and thermal decomposition onset temperature. This work will help in understanding the thermal behavior and degree of crystallinity of newly developed TPO encapsulant, which can also potentially replace the EVA encapsulant for the PV module application.