Development and testing of shingle-type solar cell modules. Quarterly report No. 2

The details of a shingle module design which produces in excess of 97 watts/m/sup 2/ of module area at 1 kW/m/sup 2/ insolation and at 60/sup 0/C are reported. This selected design employs a tempered glass coverplate to provide the primary solar cell structural support. The use of the B.F. Goodrich FLEXSEAL roofing system as the outer skin of the shingle substrate provides a high confidence of achieving the 15 year service life goal. The fabrication and testing of a preproduction module of this design has demonstrated that this selected approach will meet the environmental testing requirements imposed by the contract. Attempts to fabricate a preproduction module of an alternative design, which embeds the solar cell assembly within a methyl methacrylate casting, proved unsuccessful