Canadian researchers proposed a laminate-free solar panel using polycarbonate instead of EVA and glass. The new encapsulation technique reportedly enables easy disassembly, reuse of solar cells and local open source production.
Researchers from the University of Western Ontario in Canada have proposed using polycarbonate (PC) as an encapsulant for solar panel assembly to replace ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), which is difficult to remove during recycling without damaging fragile, high-performance solar cells.
“It is the first demonstration of a laminate-free, polycarbonate-encapsulated solar panel design,” says the study’s corresponding author, Joshua M. Pearcetold pv magazine. “The design specifically enables disassembly and circular reuse of PV, solving one of the biggest challenges in recycling standard laminated EVA glass modules.”
“The design is completely open-source and therefore available for the production of locally manufactured PV modules, which contrasts with conventional centralized PV production. This lowers the barriers to manufacturing and repair at the community level,” Pearce continued. “We successfully demonstrated mechanical robustness despite the lack of lamination. Perhaps most impressively, the prototypes achieved IP68 equivalent sealing performance, which is surprising for a non-laminated structure and further supports the robust applicability in the field.”
The scientists explained that in the proposed laminate-free, plastic-encapsulated solar panel design, PC sheets replace glass, while a pressure- and heat-based process involving a 3D-printed PC seal encases the module and holds the cells in place without EVA. The approach enables scalable, lightweight PV modules that can be manufactured with accessible DIY tools, while recycling only requires mechanical separation of the plastic housing, followed by material sorting.
Image: University of Western Ontario, Journal of Cleaner Production, CC BY 4.0
The PC 3D printed seal was used instead of polyisobutylene (PIB) and silicone, which are often used in other laminate-free designs. It was fused to the two outer plates by heating the PC close to its glass transition temperature and applying pressure. The seal also included an opening for the wires and its width was increased near the wire exit so that excess PC could deform and flow around the wires during encapsulation to improve the seal. After encapsulation, ethyl cyanoacrylate adhesive was applied to close any remaining gaps around the wires.
The single-cell modules are made with monocrystalline cells from Sunpower.
The research team noted that conventional PV modules typically use 3-4mm thick glass and EVA layers that together transmit approximately 95% of incoming light to the solar cell. In comparison, the PC cover tested in the study showed a lower permeability of 80.38%. Thus, over a 20-year lifespan, a single-cell module could generate about 102 kWh with a glass cover, but only about 86 kWh with the PC cover, resulting in an energy loss of about 16 kWh due to reduced light transmission.
However, the PC-based design allows easy recovery and reuse of PV cells and other components. This could extend the life of the system to more than 20 years, as recovered cells can be refurbished, upgraded or reused in new modules with relatively little additional embodied energy. Initial durability testing also showed promising results, including good mechanical integrity and strong water resistance comparable to an IP68 rating.
According to a preliminary techno-economic analysis, the prototype module can generate 2.12 W under sunny conditions and can be produced at a cost of approximately $3.11/W. This is significantly higher than the current average U.S. module price, although the difference largely reflects the study’s use of retail-priced materials and small-scale manufacturing.
The researchers said costs could drop significantly if PCs were sourced from recycled materials and PV cells were purchased at industrial prices. Under these conditions, production at scale could reach an estimated $0.06–0.30/W, potentially making the design competitive with commercial modules. Distributed manufacturing could further reduce costs by reducing transportation needs and enabling local production, especially in regions with an abundance of recycled plastics.
“Future work should focus on scaling the design to multi-cell modules, optimizing PC transmissivity and integrating impact-resistant materials by moving to a hybrid model,” the academics concluded. “Further testing under thermal cycling, moist heat and extended UV exposure is also required to validate long-term durability.”
The new encapsulation technique is presented in “Open-source distributed production of polycarbonate photovoltaic solar modules designed for disassembly”, published in the Magazine for cleaner production.
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