Affixing poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid) nanospheres with trimethoxyvinylsilane on silicon solar module to enhance its power conversion efficiency

Poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid) [P(MMA-co-AA)] incorporated with 0–9 wt% of trimethoxyvinylsilane (TMVS) has been studied to investigate the effect of TMVS on the adhesion properties of P(MMA-co-AA) nanospheres coated on silicon substrate as well as on the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of silicon solar module coated with the polymer nanospheres. The incorporation of 7 and 9 wt% of TMVS into the copolymer has been found to render the copolymer stronger adhesion to glass substrate than the samples with lower amount of TMVS in them. The coating of the P(MMA-co-AA) nanospheres on the glass surface of solar module increases the light harvesting efficiency by serving as an anti-reflective layer. Solar module coated with an array of P(MMA-co-AA) nanospheres with 7 wt% of TMVS yielded the highest PCE enhancement of 98% under the illumination of an AM1.5 solar simulator. The natural weathering results indicate that the copolymer with 7% of TMVS was able to withstand prolonged natural weathering exposure and remained reasonably effective in PCE enhancement up to 130 days of outdoor exposure. This study demonstrates a cost-effective technique to bind [P(MMA-co-AA)] nanospheres onto the silicon surface of solar module via siloxane linkages and thus increases the PCE of the solar module effectively. The T_g of the copolymer increased linearly from 110.31 to 118.42 °C when 0–9 wt% of TMVS was added into it. Thermogravimetry results indicate that the incorporation of TMVS does not give any significant effect on the T_d of the copolymer, which occurs at about 390 °C.