In‐Scribe Silane Bonding for Mechanical Reinforcement of Perovskite Photovoltaic Modules
Abstract Despite the extraordinary rise in power conversion efficiency over the last decade, metal halide perovskite (MHP) photovoltaics remain more mechanically fragile than other PV technologies. In this work, the scribe area, created by the monolithic interconnection of thin‐film solar cells, is used to extrinsically reinforce the mechanical robustness of packaged MHP solar modules. In contrast to the epoxy‐based chemistries often leveraged in the MHP literature, silane‐grafted polyolefin encapsulants are designed to form strong covalent bonds to oxide surfaces, specifically to glass and the transparent conductive oxide at the base of the scribe line. Pseudo‐modules encapsulated with silane‐grafted polyolefin are measured with more than an order‐of‐magnitude enhancement infracture energy from 0.27 ± 0.01 J·m −2 (no scribes) to 5.97 ± 0.42 J·m −2 (scribes perpendicular to delamination directioncovering ≈2.2% of the module area). The silane‐grafted polyolefin retains strong adhesion even after undergoing an accelerated IEC 61215 thermal cycling test consisting of 250 cycles. We find that the in‐scribe bonding allows perovskite modules to have adhesion strength comparable to commercial c‐Si and CdTe technologies with only 5% reduction in the active module area. This manufacturing‐compatible approach offers a practical solution to address the mechanical integrity challenges in MHP solar modules, regardless of cell architecture.
Authors
- Robert Witteck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8716-2616)
- Duong Nguyen Minh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9244-9432)
- Brian M. Habersberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9455-1342)
- Joseph M. Luther (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4054-8244)
- Lance M. Wheeler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1685-8242)
- Rosemary C. Bramante (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1821-1936)
- Harvey Guthrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1574-3379)
- Steven P. Harvey
- Xinwen Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7726-5695)
- Muzhi Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2328-4033)
- Nicholas Rolston
Institutions
- Dow Chemical (India) (IN)
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Colorado System (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Published
- 2025-06-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202501322
- Primary Topic
- Perovskite Materials and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Arizona State University
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- Eyring Materials Center, Arizona State University
- Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
- Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Office of Energy Efficiency