Optical characterization of curved silicon PV modules with dichroic polymeric films

Abstract Non-traditional photovoltaic (PV) modules, such as solar shingles, facades and skins, are expected to increase in market share as the solar industry matures and moves to fill building integrated photovoltaics niches. The advent of building integration and the application of photovoltaics to multiple surfaces come with fabrication challenges and inherent geometrical, optical and thermal constraints. In this paper, we investigate the curved lamination process and the integration of a dichroic polymeric film within the laminate for the particular case of a large-scale optical collector called a ”PVMirror”. PVMirror is a concentrating solar power (CSP)/PV hybrid design that combines the high efficiency of PV and storage capability of CSP using a dichroic film. The film does not degrade upon lamination and exhibits good adhesion to encapsulants. Multiple lamination approaches, such as tuning the thickness of the encapsulant, are shown to significantly reduce the impact of the lamination process on the shape error of PVMirror modules, which could also be applied to the fabrication of other non-traditional PV modules.