Company’s Eco-Friendlier Protective Solar Module Component Rids Solar Energy of Petroleum and Offers Greener Alternative to Potentially Toxic Materials
“Solar is widely hailed as the economic and environmental panacea for a greener future, but if the industry continues growing exponentially without planning ahead, it risks repeating the mistakes made by the microelectronics industry - now dealing with an ongoing legacy of toxic electronic waste,” said Lee. “Solar is a renewable source of energy, but the upstream process of manufacturing solar panels is petroleum-dependant and involves a surprising number of toxic chemicals. With photovoltaic (PV) solar on track to reach grid party over the next several years, now is the time for the PV industry to get serious about life-cycles of all the materials that go into PV panels, starting from mining to manufacturing to recycling to disposal.”
According to Design News, “Tedlar® is solvent-cast using an industrial solvent called dimethyl acetamide (DMAC), which can produce systemic injury when inhaled or absorbed through the skin in sufficient quantities over a prolonged period of time. If Tedlar® is burned, corrosive hydrogen fluoride fumes can be released. Another important issue: Tedlar® has been in very short supply for the past two years because of its growing use in photovoltaic modules and aircraft interiors.”
Dr. Stan Levy, chief technology officer at BioSolar, who spent 27 years working on many of DuPont’s premier films, including Teflon®, Mylar® and Kapton®, says he often fields questions within the PV industry regarding the manufacture and recycling of fluoropolymers such as Tedlar®, including the most common, “What are the manufacturing issues with fluoropolymers? Are there any issues with burning fluorine-containing materials? Is NF3 (greenhouse gas) a potential by-product? Are any fluoropolymers ‘safe’? What about recycling these, or having to put them in landfills?”
He also adds, “some polymers do not burn. Fluorocarbons such as TFE, PFA, and FEP need an atmosphere of at least 90% oxygen to ignite. Fluoroploymers, such as ‘Tefzel’ ETFE need an atmosphere of at lease 30% oxygen to ignite.” Levy warns, “they will decompose at a high enough temperature which is potentially extremely hazardous. The best method for disposal is landfill.”
“BioSolar's products attack one of the conundrums of the emerging solar cell industry - they use millions of square feet of materials that are based on petroleum or require use of toxic chemicals to produce,” says Design News.
BioSolar recently announced that the BioBacksheet™-C, an economical backsheet designed for the traditional c-Si PV modules, was qualified for production. Two more versions of BioBacksheet™ are currently in the pre-production stage moving towards qualification for full production, including BioBacksheet™-A, designed with an absolute moisture barrier for thin-film modules.
About BioSolar, Inc.
BioSolar, Inc. has developed a breakthrough technology to produce bio-based materials from renewable plant sources that will reduce the cost per watt of solar cells. Most of the solar industry is focused on photovoltaic efficiency to reduce cost. BioSolar is the first company to introduce a new dimension of cost reduction by replacing petroleum-based plastic solar cell components with durable bio-based materials. To learn more about BioSolar, please visit our website at http://www.biosolar.com.
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