Laminated polymer film and solar module made thereof

1. A process for manufacturing a solar module, comprising:

providing a polyester substrate comprising polymers selected from the group consisting of polyC 2-6 alkylene phthalates, polyC 2-6 alkylene naphthalates, and mixtures or blends thereof, said polyester substrate having first and second opposite surfaces;

providing a protective layer comprising a fluoropolymer with a tensile modulus of greater than 150 Kpsi;

adhering the protective layer to the first surface of the polyester substrate with an adhesive;

applying a primer layer on the second surface of the polyester substrate, wherein the primer layer is less than 0.99 micron thick;

extruding a bonding layer over the primer layer on the second surface of the polyester substrate, said bonding layer comprising a copolymer of ethylene and one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of C 1-4 alkyl acrylates, C 1-4 alkyl methacrylates, methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, glycidyl methacrylate, and maleic anhydride, said bonding layer having a thickness of 10 to 400 microns;

providing one or more solar cells that are encapsulated with a polymeric encapsulant material; and

positioning the bonding layer against the polymeric encapsulant material and applying heat and pressure to the bonding layer and the polymeric encapsulant material so as to bond the polyester substrate to the polymeric encapsulant material, wherein the peeling strength between said polyester substrate and said bonding layer is at least 10 N/cm and wherein the peeling strength between the bonding layer and the encapsulant material is at least 48 N/cm.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein the polymeric encapsulant comprises ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer.

3. The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of applying corona treatment or flame treatment to the second surface of the polyester substrate before the bonding layer is extruded over the second surface of the polyester substrate.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyester substrate further comprises a coat of metal, metal oxide, or non-metal oxide.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyC 2-6 alkylene phthalate is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyhexylene terephthalate, polyethylene o-phthalate, polytrimethylene o-phthalate, polybutylene o-phthalate and polyhexylene o-phthalate, and the polyC 2-6 alkylene naphthalate is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene naphthalate, polytrimethylene naphthalate and polybutylene naphthalate.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fluoropolymer is selected from the group consisting of polymers of fluoroethylene; copolymers of fluoroethylene with other non-fluorinated, partially-fluorinated or perfluorinated monomers; polymers of vinylidene fluoride; copolymers of vinylidene fluoride with other non-fluorinated, partially-fluorinated or perfluorinated monomers; polymers of chlorotrifluoroethylene; copolymers of chlorotrifluoroethylene with other non-fluorinated, partially-fluorinated or perfluorinated monomers; polymers of tetrafluoroethylene; and copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene with other non-fluorinated, partially-fluorinated or perfluorinated monomers.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the other non-fluorinated, partially-fluorinated or perfluorinated monomers are selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, fluoroethylene, ethylene difluoride, vinylidene fluoride, chlorotrifluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene, tetrafluoroethylene, perfluoroalkoxyvinyl ether and perfluoropropylene.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyester substrate comprises:

(a) a layer comprising copolymers selected from the group consisting of polyC 2-6 alkylene phthalates, polyC 2-6 alkylene naphthalates, and mixtures or blends thereof; and

(b) a layer comprising polyfluoroethylene or polyvinylidene fluoride.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bonding layer comprises a copolymer of ethylene and one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, propyl methacrylate, propyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, glycidyl methacrylate and maleic anhydride.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the ethylene is 50-99% by weight based on the total weight of the copolymer.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer of the bonding layer is selected from ethylene-methyl acrylate-methacrylic acid terpolymers, ethylene-butyl acrylate-methacrylic acid terpolymers, ethylene-propyl methacrylate-acrylic acid terpolymers, ethylene-butyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate terpolymers, and ethylene-methyl acrylate-maleic anhydride terpolymers.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the copolymer is an ethylene-butyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer and butyl acrylate is 2-30% by weight, and glycidyl methacrylate accounts for 1-15% by weight based on the weight of the terpolymer.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bonding layer is a single layer of a copolymer of ethylene and one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of C 1-4 alkyl acrylates, C 1-4 alkyl methacrylates, methacrylic acid, glycidyl methacrylate, and maleic anhydride.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bonding layer is a 2-8 layer laminate, wherein each layer of the laminate is a copolymer of ethylene and one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of C 1-4 alkyl acrylates, C 1-4 alkyl methacrylates, methacrylic acid, glycidyl methacrylate, and maleic anhydride.

15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the bonding layer further comprises one or more polymer layers formed by polymer materials selected from polyethylene; polypropylene; ethylene-propylene copolymers; ethylene-C 1-4 alkyl methacrylate copolymers; ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymers; ethylene-maleic anhydride copolymers; copolymers derived from ethylene and at least two monomers selected from C 1-4 alkyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid and maleic anhydride; glycidyl methacrylate-containing copolymers formed from ethylene and glycidyl methacrylate with at least one co-monomer selected from C 1-4 alkyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid and maleic anhydride; and blends thereof,

wherein the polyethylene is selected from high density polyethylene, medium density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, metallocene-derived low density polyethylene, and the polypropylene is homopolypropylene.

16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the primer layer comprises an imine or amine-containing primer.

17. The process of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer comprises polyurethane.

18. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solar cell(s) are selected from monocrystalline silicon solar cells, polycrystalline silicon solar cells and nano-silicon solar cells.

19. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solar cells are selected from non-crystalline thin-film silicon solar cells, cadmium telluride thin-film solar cells, and copper indium gallium selenide thin-film solar cells.