TY - GEN
T1 - Mechanical behaviour and fatigue of copper ribbons used as solar cell interconnectors
AU - Wiese, Steffen
AU - Meier, Rico
AU - Kraemer, Frank
PY - 2010/6/24
Y1 - 2010/6/24
N2 - The soldering of solar cell strings is a critical step in the production of photovoltaic modules. Temperature induced stresses can cause cracking in the cells. During the soldering operation, the cell and the wires are heat up and expand. During the subsequent cooling phase they contract. The differential contraction between the Cu and the Si combined with thermal gradients, causes mechanical stress in the assembly. Moreover the lifetime of solar modules can be limited by the fatigue of the copper-ribbons. Since the front glass and the silicon cells have a significant difference in their coefficients of thermal expansion, temperature fluctuations are able to induce thermo-mechanical stresses in the photovoltaic module. The paper will present the results of the mechanical tests on copper materials. In order to give an explanation for the fatigue behaviour of the material, a correlation to the relevant microstructures will be given. Based on the investigated mechanical behaviour practical implications for proper handling of copper ribbons during solar module production processes will be concluded.
AB - The soldering of solar cell strings is a critical step in the production of photovoltaic modules. Temperature induced stresses can cause cracking in the cells. During the soldering operation, the cell and the wires are heat up and expand. During the subsequent cooling phase they contract. The differential contraction between the Cu and the Si combined with thermal gradients, causes mechanical stress in the assembly. Moreover the lifetime of solar modules can be limited by the fatigue of the copper-ribbons. Since the front glass and the silicon cells have a significant difference in their coefficients of thermal expansion, temperature fluctuations are able to induce thermo-mechanical stresses in the photovoltaic module. The paper will present the results of the mechanical tests on copper materials. In order to give an explanation for the fatigue behaviour of the material, a correlation to the relevant microstructures will be given. Based on the investigated mechanical behaviour practical implications for proper handling of copper ribbons during solar module production processes will be concluded.
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U2 - 10.1109/ESIME.2010.5464551
DO - 10.1109/ESIME.2010.5464551
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77953695724
SN - 9781424470266
T3 - 2010 11th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation, and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems, EuroSimE 2010
BT - 2010 11th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation, and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems, EuroSimE 2010
T2 - 2010 11th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation, and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems, EuroSimE 2010
Y2 - 26 April 2010 through 28 April 2010
ER -