A POLYMER COMPOSITION FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC APPLICATIONS

1 : A polymer composition comprising:

a polymeric component comprising a polymer of ethylene (a) which is selected from:

(a1) a polymer of ethylene which bears silane group(s) containing units;

(a2) a copolymer of ethylene with one or more polar comonomer(s) selected from (C1-C6)-alkyl acrylate or (C1-C6)-alkyl (C1-C6)-alkylacrylate comonomer(s), which copolymer (a2) bears silane group(s) containing units and which copolymer (a2) is different from the polymer of ethylene (a1); or

(a3) a copolymer of ethylene with one or more (C1-C10)-alpha-olefin comonomer which is different from polymer of ethylene (a1) and polymer of ethylene (a2); and

a pigment (b), wherein the amount of the pigment (b) is 2.00 wt % or more, based on the amount of the polymer composition (100% wt).

2 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of the pigment (b) is 2.00 to 40.0 wt %.

3 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the pigment (b) is selected from an inorganic pigment.

4 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer of ethylene (a) is a (a1) polymer of ethylene which bears silane group(s) containing comonomer.

5 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer of ethylene (a) is a (a2) copolymer of ethylene with one or more polar comonomer(s) selected from (C1-C6)-alkyl acrylate or (C1-C6)-alkyl (C1-C6)-alkylacrylate comonomer(s), which polymer of ethylene (a2) bears silane group(s) containing units.

6 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of the polar comonomer in the copolymer of ethylene (a2) is of 0.5 to 30.0 mol %.

7 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein the silane group(s) containing unit or, of polymer of ethylene (a1) or copolymer of ethylene (a2) is a hydrolysable unsaturated silane compound represented by the formula (I):

R1SiR2 q Y3- q   (I)

wherein

R1 is an ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbyl, hydrocarbyloxy or (meth)acryloxy hydrocarbyl group,

each R2 is independently an aliphatic saturated hydrocarbyl group,

Y which may be the same or different, is a hydrolysable organic group, and

q is 0, 1 or 2.

8 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , wherein copolymer of ethylene (a) comprises:

a melt flow rate, MFR 2 , of less than 20 g/10 min (according to ISO 1133 at 190° C. and at a load of 2.16 kg); and/or

a melting temperature, Tm, of less than 100° C.

9 : The polymer composition according to claim 1 , having a ratio of the rheological spectrum index of the blend of polymer (a) and pigment (b) (RSI (a+b) ) to the rheological spectrum index of polymer (a) alone (RSI (a) ) of up to 4.0.

10 - 12 . (canceled)

13 : An article comprising a layer element (LE) that one or more layer(s), wherein the one or more layer(s) comprises includes the polymer composition according to claim 1 .

14 : The article according to claim 13 , which is a multilayer assembly comprising two or more layer elements, wherein at least one layer element is the layer element (LE).

15 : The article according to claim 13 , which is a photovoltaic (PV) module comprising a photovoltaic element and one or more further layer elements.

16 : The article according to claim 15 , comprising, in the given order, a protective front layer element, a front encapsulation layer element, a photovoltaic element, a rear encapsulation layer element and a protective back layer element, wherein the rear encapsulation layer element is the layer element (LE).

17 : The article according to claim 15 , wherein the protective front layer element and the protective back layer element are rigid layer element(s).

18 : A process for producing a photovoltaic (PV) module according to claim 15 , comprising, in the given order, a protective front layer element, a front encapsulation layer element, a photovoltaic element, a rear encapsulation layer element and a protective back layer element, wherein at least the rear encapsulation layer element is the layer element (LE) consisting of, the polymer composition which-comprises:

a polymeric component comprising a polymer of ethylene (a) which is selected from:

(a1) a polymer of ethylene which bears silane group(s) containing units;

(a2) a copolymer of ethylene with one or more polar comonomer(s) selected from (C1-C6)-alkyl acrylate or (C1-C6)-alkyl (C1-C6)-alkylacrylate comonomer(s), which copolymer (a2) bears silane group(s) containing units and which copolymer (a2) is different from the polymer of ethylene (a1); or

(a3) a copolymer of ethylene with one or more (C1-C10)-alpha-olefin comonomer which is different from polymer of ethylene (a1) and polymer of ethylene (a2); and

a pigment (b), wherein the amount of the pigment (b) is 2.00 wt % or more, based on the amount of the polymer composition (100% wt);

wherein the process comprises the steps of:

(i) assembling step to arrange a protective front layer element, a front encapsulation layer element, a photovoltaic element, a rear encapsulation layer element and a protective back layer element, in given order, to form of a photovoltaic module assembly;

(ii) heating step to heat up the photovoltaic module assembly optionally in a chamber at evacuating conditions;

(iii) pressure build up step, where the pressure on the multilayer assembly is gradually increased in a single or multiple steps;

(iv) pressure holding step, where the pressure is kept on the multilayer assembly at the heated conditions for the lamination of the assembly to occur; and

(v) recovering step to cool and remove the obtained photovoltaic module for later use.