A spacing device for a system for laminating a laminate, in particular photovoltaic modules. The system includes a membrane holder adapted to apply a membrane to the laminate under pressure for lamination. The spacing device includes a circulating belt and a plurality of spacing members connected to the band and configured to at least partially form a frame for the laminate in at least a portion of the circulating belt and thereby suppress edge compression of the laminate during lamination.

The present invention is an assembly layer for a flexible device. Within a temperature range of between about −30° C. to about 90° C., the assembly layer has a shear storage modulus at a frequency of 1 Hz that does not exceed about 2 MPa, a shear creep compliance (J) of at least about 6×10.sup.−6 1/Pa measured at 5 seconds with an applied shear stress between about 50 kPa and about 500 kPa, and a strain recovery of at least about 50% at at least one point of applied shear stress within the range of about 5 kPa to about 500 kPa within about 1 minute after removing the applied shear stress. The assembly layer includes at least one of a polyisoprene, a polybutadiene, an olefin block copolymer, a polyisobutylene, and high alkyl polyolefin.

The invention relates, among other things, to a method of making a thin panel (10) for outdoor applications, comprising, among other things, the following steps: a) providing a deep-drawable film (10) of a transparent plastic, b) deep-drawing the film (11) in a mold (34), c) mounting a structure (19) having solar cells (32) on an inner face (16) of the deep-drawn film (12), d) placing the deep-drawn film (12) with mounted structure (19) in a cavity (33) of a mold (34) having in particular at least two mold halves (13, 14), e) introducing a liquid polyurethane casting compound (24) into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading the polyurethane casting compound (24) over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), f) curing the polyurethane casting compound, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30), or comprising the following steps j) and k) instead of the steps e) and f): j) introducing a granular particle foam mass into the cavity (33) of the mold (34) and spreading over an inner face (18) of the structure (19) and/or over the inner face (16) of the film (12), k) baking and curing the particle foam mass, in particular with the mold closed, to form a reinforcement layer (30).

Ion-doped two-dimensional nanomaterials are made by inducing electronic carriers (electrons and holes) in a two-dimensional material using a captured ion layer at the surface of the material. The captured ion layer is stabilized using a capping layer. The induction of electronic carriers works in atomically-thin two-dimensional materials, where it induces high carrier density of at least 10.sup.14 carriers/cm.sup.2. A variety of novel ion-doped nanomaterials and p-n junction-based nanoelectronic devices are made possible by the method.

Silicone optically clear adhesives compositions and films with pressure sensitive properties are described. The silicone optically clear adhesives compositions are thermal, UV curable, or UV-moisture dual curable. The silicone optically clear adhesives are suitable for sealing and bonding cover glasses, touch panels, diffusers, rigid compensators, heaters, and flexible films, polarizers and retarders in the optical display devices, and are particularly suitable in flexible and foldable displays.

An extensible mast according to the present disclosure includes a first fiber layer made of a fiber-reinforced plastic, a second fiber layer that is arranged in contact with the first fiber layer and made of a fiber-reinforced plastic having a thermal expansion coefficient in a longitudinal direction larger than a thermal expansion coefficient in the longitudinal direction of the fiber-reinforced plastic applied to the first fiber layer, and an electric heating wire arranged on the second fiber layer. The number of times of overlapping of the electric heating wire in different layers when the first fiber layer, the second fiber layer, and the electric heating wire are wound and retracted in a roll shape is minimized. Thus, the elastic restoring force of the extensible mast can be maintained while an increase in weight and volume is suppressed.

The present invention relates to a back-sheet comprising a weatherable layer, a structural layer and a functional layer whereby one of the layers comprises polybutylene terephthalate and one or both of the other layers comprises a polyolefin. The layer comprising polybutylene terephthalate preferably further comprises an impact modifier. The impact modifier comprises an elastomer that contains functional groups that bond chemically and/or interact physically with the polybutylene terephthalate and wherein the elastomer constitutes the dispersed phase at a concentration of 1-49 Vol %. Preferably the elastomer contains epoxy functional groups. The polyolefin is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene homo or copolymers, polypropylene homo or (block-)copolymers, cyclic olefin copolymers, polymethylpentene, a thermoplastic polyolefine (TPO), or blends thereof.

A photovoltaic module includes at least one solar cell, an encapsulant encapsulating the at least one solar cell, a frontsheet juxtaposed with the encapsulant, and backsheet juxtaposed with the encapsulant. The frontsheet includes a glass layer, a polymer layer attached to the glass layer, and an adhesive layer attaching the polymer layer to the glass layer. The backsheet includes a single-layer, moisture-resistant, fire-retardant membrane.

A system and method are provided for forming body structures including energy filters/shutter components, including energy/light directing/scattering layers that are actively electrically switchable. The filters or components are operable between at least a first mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the shutter components, appear substantially transparent when viewed from an energy/light incident side, and a second mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the energy filters or shutter components, appear opaque to the incident energy impinging on the energy incident side. The differing modes are selectable by electrically energizing, differentially energizing and/or de-energizing electric fields in a vicinity of the energy scattering layers, including electric fields generated between a pair of transparent electrodes sandwiching an energy scattering layer. Refractive indices of transparent particles, and the transparent matrices in which the particles are fixed, are tunable according to the applied electric fields.

The present invention relates to a solar cell backsheet, comprising a functional layer wherein the functional layer comprises a polyethylene alloy and a semi-crystalline polymer such as polypropylene, preferably at least 10 wt % of polypropylenes based on the total weight of the polymers in the functional layer. The polypropylene is selected from a polypropylene homo- or copolymer, the copolymer is a random or block copolymer. The polyethylene alloy comprises a copolymer containing an ethylene segment (—CH2-CH2-) which is selected from one or more of ethylene acrylate copolymer, ethylene-hexene copolymer, ethylene-octene copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. The functional layer further comprises an inorganic filler selected from one of calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, barium sulfate, mica, talc, kaolin, glass microbeads and glass fibers. The present invention also relates to a photovoltaic module comprising the backsheet according to the present invention.