Have you ever spotted a rooftop solar panel? On a good day, one can hardly miss the parallels of cell modules standing on top of a mounting system.
Solar energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy. Through the photovoltaic effect, semiconductors convert sunlight into electric power. Statistics show that the amount of energy from solar radiation reaching the earth every year is equivalent of 130 trillion tons of coal – and it is renewable! The solar panel, as where the magic of energy transformation happens, is among the most common devices in solar electric technology.
At the BASF Greater China headquartered site in Shanghai, we installed several solar panels for energy saving. With the development of photovoltaic industry, the Chinese government launched aseries of policies to encourage distributed generation. Within the policies, distributed building-integrated PV system is one of the most important parts.The capacity of installation of distributed building-integrated PV system isexpected to reach 40GW by 2020. Thanks to the flexible and durable engineering plastics, we now offer more efficient and reliable solutions for easy mounting of building-integrated PV system to the industry.
At the Chinaplas 2014, BASF will showcase an AIXTRALIGHT photovoltaic mounting system made with Ultramid® ®A3WG10 engineering plastic. BASF's polyamide Ultramid has been shown to have aservice life of 20 years in accordance with ISO 4892-2 Cycle 1. The material also exhibits minimal creep tendency at high temperatures (up to 80 C), as well as extraordinary toughness and stiffness at low temperatures. In addition,Ultramid easily handles long-term direct contact with PVC roof membranes and conforms to the B2 fire class (DIN 4102).
This is just one of BASF’s abound solutions for the photovoltaic industry. Keep tuned for more innovative ideas created with chemistry.
Find more about Ultramid® in our booth at Chinaplas 2014:
- BoothB41, Hall N1
-Shanghai New International Expo Center, 2345 Longyang Road
- 9:30 -17:30, April 23-26, 2014
We create chemistry for a sustainable future!