Is Using Tempered Glass for Solar Panels A Form of "intelligence Tax"?

In the encapsulation material of solar panels, glass is evidently the best protective shell to balance transparency and protection. Especially for double-glass panels, they are the most popular choice.

However, because solar panels require customized tempered glass, glass also becomes the auxiliary material with the highest cost proportion. Second only to cells, it accounts for 11% to 17% of the cost of solar panels.

So, can tempered glass be replaced with ordinary glass to save costs? Must solar panels be encapsulated with glass?

No, tempered glass must be used.

Ordinary glass contains more than 0.2% iron and has a visible light transmittance of between 88-89%. It also lacks corrosion resistance and has weaker impact resistance.

PV tempered glass has an iron content of around 0.05% to 0.02%, with a visible light transmittance greater than or equal to 91.5% and greater than or equal to 91% within the 300-2500nm spectral range. It can withstand temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius, has some corrosion resistance to acid rain and harmful gases in the environment, and has good impact resistance.

Solar panels need to guarantee stable power generation for 30 years. Only by using customized tempered glass can the performance of panels be maximally guaranteed.

So what are the specific differences between tempered glass and ordinary glass? Under what circumstances will tempered glass explode? Let's explain through outdoor experiments.

Tempered glass undergoes special treatment, forming a compressive stress layer on its surface, significantly improving its mechanical strength and thermal shock resistance, and can withstand about five times the pressure of ordinary glass. However, its edges are the most fragile, and when it breaks, it makes a loud noise and the fragments are granular, making it safer than ordinary glass. Ordinary glass forms sharp fragments after breaking, which can cause serious injuries.

In addition to damage from external forces, excessively high temperatures can also cause tempered glass to explode. What is this limit? Let's do a high-temperature test.

The experiment used qualified tempered glass, 1.5m long, 1m wide, and 10mm thick.

Image: During the dog days, the highest temperature of glass directly exposed to sunlight is around 65°C.

The experiment used a spray gun to roast, testing the tempered glass's heat resistance limit.

After about 10 minutes of roasting with the spray gun, the glass temperature reached 300°C, and it still did not explode.

Image: The highest temperature recorded by the thermal imager is 301°C

This fully illustrates that intense sunlight will not cause tempered glass to explode. Even if the operating temperature of the component exceeds 140°C, it is completely within the tolerance range.

So, if there is a large temperature difference between day and night in the local area, will the alternating hot and cold stimulate the tempered glass to explode?

After roasting this piece of glass, ice water was immediately poured on it. At a high temperature of 300°C, the tempered glass only emitted a little smoke when exposed to ice water, and there was no explosion.

In fact, the tempering process of tempered glass has already undergone this process. After high-temperature of the tempering furnace, reaching a high temperature of 620°C to 640°C, it is then rapidly cooled. Therefore, ordinary temperature changes will not cause tempered glass to explode.

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