An extensive and growing portfolio of specialty thermoplastics designed to support major trends in solar applications has been displayed by SABIC IP. Highlighting the applications on display is the solar industry’s first polycarbonate (PC) building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels for roofing, cladding and glazing, which illustrates the company’s continuing commitment to advancing customer’s sustainable energy generation through more efficient solar power.
“SABIC’s tremendous expertise about the industries in which our customers compete stems from our tradition of listening before recommending,” said Ilknur Gur, general manager of the Specialty business in Europe, Innovative Plastics. “Our development of the Lexan* BIPV panels embodies this principle. It helped innovate a new industry-first that can transform conventional roofing and glazing systems and provide new choices for customers when integrating solar systems into building designs across the globe. SABIC continues to explore how its advanced materials technologies can open new opportunities for solar power customers by continuously improving new application development, customer support and new thermoplastics solutions.”
Demonstrating SABIC’s tradition of challenging existing industry standards to improve systems efficiencies, performance and product sustainability, the new Lexan BIPV panels combine tough, transparent Lexan Thermoclear* PC sheet with photovoltaic cells into panels that come in a broad range of sizes, configurations and colors. Lexan BIPV panels are an excellent alternative to traditional BIPV materials, particularly glass, because they deliver exceptional design freedom – including the ability to create dramatic curved shapes – and provide light weight, excellent thermal insulation, extreme durability and improved safety.
In addition to Lexan BIPV panels, SABIC’s booth features an array of solar industry applications that demonstrate the company’s proactive approach to anticipating its customers’ demands. For example, junction boxes and inverter housings on exhibit illustrate the advantages of Noryl* resin for solar designers and manufacturers. This versatile material can enable the design of smaller components, provides the thermal performance needed to address the challenges of miniaturization and delivers excellent flame retardant properties. Plus, storage battery housings molded from Noryl N190X resin demonstrate excellent chemical and high heat resistance.
SABIC is also displaying a PV panel backsheet film extruded from Noryl resin, which can provide long-term durability to extend the useful life of the panel and is an alternative to other solutions currently available. Additionally on display at SABIC’s booth, a micro PV tracking system using SABIC’s LNP* Thermocomp* PF00DS compound for the brackets and LNP Lubricomp* DL002 compound for the moving arm parts. Glass-filled LNP Thermocomp PF00DS compound allows for part integration and can provide the high stiffness needed for structural parts like brackets. LNP Lubricomp DL002 compound, a lubricated material for moving parts, may reduce maintenance costs by eliminating the need for external lubricants.
SABIC offers a wide array of materials for solar and electrical systems, including Noryl, Lexan and Cycoloy* resins and LNP Thermocomp and LNP Lubricomp specialty compounds, transparent Lexan CFR copolymer for solar collectors and other applications requiring flame retardance at very thin gauges. Lexan CFR copolymer meets the UL 945 VA standard at 0.3 mm. Cycoloy resins are excellent candidate materials when flame retardance, chemical resistance and good heat performance are needed for storage battery housings. LNP Thermocomp compounds, based on 25 different resins, contribute extremely high mechanical and ultraviolet performance in structural applications calling for high stiffness, part integration and weight-out. LNP Lubricomp compounds are lubricated materials specially developed to help reduce part wear and friction in applications such as bearings, sliders and nuts. This technology the need for external lubricants and can minimize maintenance costs.
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