ENCAPSULANT FOR PV MODULE, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME AND PV MODULE COMPRISING THE SAME (As Amended)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016336469-A1
Application number	US-201515107075-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 26, 2015
Priority date	Feb 26, 2014
Publication date	Nov 17, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present application relates to an encapsulant for a PV module, a method of manufacturing the same and a PV module. The encapsulant according to an embodiment of the present application has excellent heat resistance or the like and improved creep physical properties, and thus even when the encapsulant is used under conditions of a high temperature and/or high humidity for a long time, deformation is small and the encapsulant can exhibit excellent adhesive strength. Accordingly, when the encapsulant is applied to a PV module, durability or the like may be improved.

First claim

1 . An encapsulant for a PV module, comprising:
an ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer; a silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer; and a heat resistant polymer resin having a melting point (Tm) higher than the ethylene/α-olefin-based polymer.

2 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin has a melting point (Tm) of 100° C. or more.

3 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin has a melting point (Tm) in a range of 100 to 150° C.

4 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin has a melt index (MI) lower than the ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer.

5 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin has a melt index (MI) in a range of 0.1 g/10 min to 40 g/10 min at a temperature of 190° C. and a load of 2.16 kg.

6 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin is included in a range of 0.1 to 10 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of a mixture of the ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer and the silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer.

7 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin is included in a range of 1 to 5 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of a mixture of the ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer and the silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer.

8 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin is a polyethylene-based resin and/or a polypropylene-based resin.

9 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the heat resistant polymer resin comprises a low density polyethylene.

10 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , satisfying the following Expression 1:
ΔX≦3mm   [Expression 1]
in the Expression 1, after two layers of encapsulants having a size of 20 cm×25 cm (width×length) are overlapped and interposed between a first glass plate having a thickness of 3.2 and having a size of 20 cm×30 cm (width×length) and a second glass plate having a thickness of 3.2 and having a size of 20 cm×30 cm (width×length) and laminated to prepare a sample having a size of 20 cm×35 cm (width×length), the sample was vertically)(90° erected, the first glass plate was fixedly suspended, the sample was maintained at 100° C. for 10 hours, and here, an average value of vertically creeping distances of a left side, a center, and a right side of the second glass plate is represented by ΔX.

11 . The encapsulant of claim 1 , wherein the silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer is the ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer graft polymerized with a silane compound.

12 . The encapsulant of claim 11 , wherein the silane compound comprises an unsaturated silane compound and/or an amino silane compound.

13 . The encapsulant of claim 11 , wherein the silane compound comprises a compound represented by the following Formula 1:
DSiR 1 p R 2 (3-p)   [Formula 1]
in the Formula 1, D is an alkenyl group, R 1 is an alkoxy group, an alkylthio group, an aryloxy group, an acyloxy group, a hydroxy group, a halogen group, an amine group or —R 3 R 4 , R 3 is an oxygen (O) or sulfur (S) atom, R 4 is an alkyl group, an aryl group, or an acyl group, R 2 is hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or an aralkyl group, and p is an integer in a range of 1 to 3.

14 . The encapsulant of claim 11 , wherein the silane compound comprises a compound represented by the following Formula 2:
SiR 5 q R 6 (4-q)   [Formula 2]
in the Formula 2, R 5 is —(CH 2 ) v NR 7 R 8 , R 7 and R 8 are each independently hydrogen or R 9 NH 2 bound to nitrogen atoms, R 9 is an alkylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, R 6 is halogen, an amine group, —R 10 R 11 or —R 11 , R 10 is an oxygen (O) or sulfur (S) atom, R 11 is hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, or an acyl group, and q is an integer in a range of 1 to 4.

15 . The encapsulant of claim 11 , wherein the silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer comprises a main chain including a polymerization unit of an olefin-based monomer and a branched chain bound to the main chain, and the branched chain includes a compound represented by the following Formula 3:
—SiR 12 R 13 R 14   [Formula 3]

in the Formula 3, R 12 and R 13 are each independently halogen, an amine group, —R 15 R 16 or —R 16 , R 15 is an oxygen (O) or sulfur (S) atom, R 16 is hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, or an acyl group, R 14 is —OSiR 17 m R 18 (2-m) R 19 , R 17 and R 18 are each independently halogen, an amine group, —R20R21 or —R 21 , R 20 is an oxygen (O) or sulfur (S) atom, R 21 is hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, or an acyl group, R 19 is —(CH 2 ) n NR 22 R 23 , R 22 and R 23 are each independently hydrogen bound to nitrogen atoms or R 24 NH 2 , R 24 is an alkylene group, m is an integer of 1 or 2, and n is an integer of 1 or more.

16 . The encapsulant of claim 11 , wherein the silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer comprises a main chain including a polymerization unit of an olefin-based monomer and a branched chain bound to the main chain, and the branched chain includes a compound represented by the following Formula 4:
—SiR 25 r R 26 (3-r)   [Formula 4]

in the Formula 4, R 25 and R 26 are each independently halogen, an amine group, —R 27 R 28 or —R 28 , R 27 is an oxygen (O) or sulfur (S) atom, R 28 is hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group, or an acyl group, and r is an integer in a range of 1 to 3.

17 . A method of manufacturing an encapsulant for a PV module, comprising manufacturing a sheet-shaped resin composition which includes an ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer, a silane modified ethylene/α-olefin-based copolymer and a heat resistant polymer resin having a melting point higher than the ethylene/α-olefin-based polymer.

18 . A PV module comprising an encapsulant according to claim 1 any one of claims 1 to 16 .

19 . The PV module of claim 18 , comprising:
a front substrate; an encapsulant layer formed on the front substrate; a solar cell encapsulated by the encapsulant layer; and a back sheet formed on the encapsulant layer.

Assignees

• Lg Chemical Ltd

Inventors

• Jung Je Sik
• Kim Hyun Cheol
• Lee Jung Youn

Classifications

• H10H20/854

  characterised by their material, e.g. epoxy or silicone resins · CPC title

• C08L2203/204

  use in solar cells · CPC title

• C08F2810/40

  taking place solely at one end or both ends of the polymer backbone, i.e. not in the side or lateral chains · CPC title

• C08L2310/00

  Masterbatches · CPC title

• H01L31/049

  Electricity · mapped topic