Lightweight polymer solar panel that is more rugged and resistant to damage

23-Jun-17

A lightweight polymer solar panel which is said to be one-third the weight of a standard glass solar panel as well as being significantly more rugged and resistant to damage has been created by Armageddon Energy, EconCore and DuPont.
According to EconCore, the key advantages of the Armageddon solar panel design include 70-80% lower weight, minimal need for cleaning, greatly improved resistance to the kinds of damage typically suffered by solar panels, and adaptiveness to challenging applications. The solar panel features a thermoplastic honeycomb sandwich panel technology developed by EconCore in Belgium. The EconCore substrate is a strong, lightweight polyamide (DuPont Zytel) honeycomb material that is produced continuously and can be in-line laminated with skin layers (DuPont Vizilon) to deliver a cost-effective sandwich product suited to high volume production.

DuPont Performance Materials provides an exceptionally strong and durable version of its Vizilon thermoplastic composite to reinforce the substrates, as well as a tough Zytel polyamide resin for the honeycomb core.