innovative - residential neighborhood (AT)

Module structures

The appropriate module structure is selected depending on the requirements of the particular application with regard to construction and structural load (e.g. façade or roofing). Depending on the structure, we distinguish between the following modules:

Glass-foil modules
Laminated glass modules and
Laminated insulating glass modules

Glass foil modules

The solar cells are encapsulated between a glass panel on the front and a foil on the back to create a solar module. The solar cells are encapsulated on both sides in plastic (ethylene vinyl acetate) to protect them against moisture and mechanical stress. With the aid of heat and pressure, the cells are laminated with the glass and foil to create a weatherproof, breakproof composite. The glass-foil module is the lightest, cheapest type of module.

Figure 1: Structure of a glass-foil module with crystalline cells

Source: sun technics

Laminated glass module

Modules with glass on the front and back are referred to as double-glass modules or glass-glass modules. If the modules are laminated with PVB plastic foil (polyvinyl butyral), which is also used to manufacture laminated glass, then they are laminated glass modules. If there is also a layer of insulating glass on the back, then we talk about laminated insulating glass modules.