Category: Solar Module Packaging

Glossary

Active area: The surface area of the photovoltaic module responsible for the conversion of light into electricity Adhesive: A material used to bond two surfaces together Amorphous silicon cell (a-Si): A classification of thin-film photovoltaic cells composed of noncrystalline silicon that lacks long-range order and uniform lattice structure; typical Eg = 1.7 eV Antireflective coating: […]

Metallic Films

Parabolic concentrators and reflectors use metallic surfaces to concen­trate light. Parabolic concentrators are composed of two parabolic mirrors, referred to as the first and the secondary. The first mirror reflects light from the Sun to the secondary mirror elevated above the first. The secondary mir­ror focuses light back onto the underlying PV cell. Parabolic concentratorsoften […]

Lenses

There are a number of design considerations to ensure a lens efficiently focuses light rays onto a focal point. The two relevant for this discussion are geometry and material selection. Design considerations include the geomet­ric shape, the wavelength with the highest quantum efficiency for the PV cell, and the refractive index of the materials used […]