Huntsman Materials for Renewable Energy Sector
Differentiated chemical manufacturer Huntsman Advanced Materials said it covers the whole spectrum of solar energy production with its portfolio of material solutions. This includes solar panels that produce electricity to thermal panels that convert the power of the sun into heat. In the solar energy production market, products are often required to withstand high temperatures. Optimised insulation is one of the key factors in achieving 'smart buildings'.
Properly insulating buildings provides an effective method of reducing energy consumption, without sacrificing comfort. In warm climates, the use of reflective coatings minimising infrared absorption, urethane sandwich panels, insulation boards and blocks is likely to rise; these are areas where Huntsman is active. Other areas of growth include solar heating, solar reflective and solar power. Each of these three technologies will see a rapid increase in usage due to requirements to lower the energy needs of building.
Solar thermal panel design has become more refined and efficient to the extent that solar heating panels can now be an integral and virtually indistinguishable part of the roof design on a building. Adhesives, fixings and sealants specifically designed for these panels will see increased usage. Alongside solar heating and solar reflective technology, there will be growth in solar power arrays to produce electricity from sunlight. Traditionally, silicon wafer technology has been used and in the future whole areas of roofing may have photovoltaic cells installed to produce a significant proportion of the energy for the building.
Huntsman has introduced a complete package of materials and processing technologies that will enable actively temperature-controlled photovoltaic modules with increased efficiency. The liquid system Araldite AY 4583/HY 4583 enables an energy saving encapsulation process at low temperatures and eliminates the critical lamination process with EVA. Heat conductive, electrical insulating adhesives enable a new module design and construction with improved heat transfer and efficiency, together with good strength and bonding properties.
Flexible and thermal conductive adhesive protects the flexibility of solar cells. Highly reflective, white solder mask Probimer 77 White contributes to the increase of the efficiency of the photovoltaic module through higher and multiple reflection, increasing the ratio of sunlight reaching the cells. By using these technologies, Huntsman said there is potential to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic modules by more than 50 per cent, as well as simplifying processing, reducing costs and improving aging stability.
Another example of Huntsman's work in the solar energy market is Araldite 2015, which has TUV design and type approval for photovoltaic modules. It allows a module design and construction with improved heat transfer and efficiency together with good strength and bonding properties. Araldite 2015 properties of high shear strength and peel strength, combined with its resistance to water, chemicals and UV are not affected when used for improved energy efficient solar panels in buildings.
Tests prove that bonding of the aluminium extruded profiles bonded onto the surface-treated polyvinyl fluoride back sheet of the solar module can withstand thermal cycling temperature cycles from -40C to +85C without diminishing the strength of the bond. This makes Araldite 2015 ideally suited to dissimilar materials, according to Huntsman.
Properly insulating buildings provides an effective method of reducing energy consumption, without sacrificing comfort. In warm climates, the use of reflective coatings minimising infrared absorption, urethane sandwich panels, insulation boards and blocks is likely to rise; these are areas where Huntsman is active. Other areas of growth include solar heating, solar reflective and solar power. Each of these three technologies will see a rapid increase in usage due to requirements to lower the energy needs of building.
Solar thermal panel design has become more refined and efficient to the extent that solar heating panels can now be an integral and virtually indistinguishable part of the roof design on a building. Adhesives, fixings and sealants specifically designed for these panels will see increased usage. Alongside solar heating and solar reflective technology, there will be growth in solar power arrays to produce electricity from sunlight. Traditionally, silicon wafer technology has been used and in the future whole areas of roofing may have photovoltaic cells installed to produce a significant proportion of the energy for the building.
Huntsman has introduced a complete package of materials and processing technologies that will enable actively temperature-controlled photovoltaic modules with increased efficiency. The liquid system Araldite AY 4583/HY 4583 enables an energy saving encapsulation process at low temperatures and eliminates the critical lamination process with EVA. Heat conductive, electrical insulating adhesives enable a new module design and construction with improved heat transfer and efficiency, together with good strength and bonding properties.
Flexible and thermal conductive adhesive protects the flexibility of solar cells. Highly reflective, white solder mask Probimer 77 White contributes to the increase of the efficiency of the photovoltaic module through higher and multiple reflection, increasing the ratio of sunlight reaching the cells. By using these technologies, Huntsman said there is potential to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic modules by more than 50 per cent, as well as simplifying processing, reducing costs and improving aging stability.
Another example of Huntsman's work in the solar energy market is Araldite 2015, which has TUV design and type approval for photovoltaic modules. It allows a module design and construction with improved heat transfer and efficiency together with good strength and bonding properties. Araldite 2015 properties of high shear strength and peel strength, combined with its resistance to water, chemicals and UV are not affected when used for improved energy efficient solar panels in buildings.
Tests prove that bonding of the aluminium extruded profiles bonded onto the surface-treated polyvinyl fluoride back sheet of the solar module can withstand thermal cycling temperature cycles from -40C to +85C without diminishing the strength of the bond. This makes Araldite 2015 ideally suited to dissimilar materials, according to Huntsman.
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