Optimizing scattering behaviour of encapsulant for maximum PV energy yield

Nowadays, material manufacturers are engineering module materials to optimize the energy production of the PV modules. One of the elements which can be influenced is the optical scattering of a material. In this study, we quantified the effect of a scattering front encapsulant on the energy production of PV modules. First, a wavelength dependent scattering model was developed in the ray-tracing software PVlighthouse. This model was used to find the optimal scattering conditions, looking at the photo-generated current for a glass-glass PV module with flat front surface. It was shown that a gain of +0.63 mA/cm2 can be obtained for optimal scattering conditions. The scattering is mostly beneficial when the light strikes the module surface at a perpendicular angle. The outcome of the optimization study was implemented in IMEC’s energy yield simulation framework. This framework was used to estimate the energy gain of PV module with scattering front encapsulant when installed in Kuwait’s desert. It was shown that an energy production gain of 1.8% can be expected in case of a glass-glass module with flat front surface and ARC coating.