Presentation Details
| Optimization of Visible Light Transmission and Adhesion Energy in Flexible Semi-Transparent PMMA-TPO Agrivoltaic Panels Duncan C.McGraw1, Pradip Basnet1, Ranjith D.Janardhana1, Nathan Jackson1, Gowtham Mohan2, David T.Hanson1, Peter Vorobieff1, Tito Busani1. 1University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.2University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA |
Abstract
Agrivoltaics, the combination of agriculture and photovoltaic arrays, has seen a widespread expansion as photovoltaic technology has become cheaper. Increased PV panel production has significantly reduced the cost of PV arrays, especially when developed at larger scales. A challenge that remains within the field of agrivoltaics is the balance of power production and light availability for crops. This can be addressed through the introduction of controllable spacing between PV cells in an PV module to adjust light levels for the crops grown. This goal can be facilitated through the use of flexible front and back sheet materials, such as thermoplastics like polymethylmethacrylate, as some agrivoltaics contexts such as greenhouse agrivoltaics lend themselves to flexible PV modules. To test the viability of a thermoplastic PV modules in an agrivoltaic context, the average optical transmission and critical adhesion energy release rate were measured for laminate samples composed of a 0.75 mm thick PMMA frontsheet, 2 0.5 mm thick TPO sheets, and a 0.75 mm thick PMMA backsheet. These samples were prepared at lamination temperatures of 95 and 100 ºC with lamination times of 240, 480 and 720 s to determine the best combination of fabrication conditions. The 100 ºC, 720 s sample series obtained the best balance of average optical transmission of 83.3 +/- 4.4% and critical adhesion energy release rate adhesion energy of 115.9 +/- 8.1 Jm-2.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.