Page 47 - Plastics News May 2026
P. 47
BUSINESS NEWS
strong initial adhesion compared to
EVA. Nevertheless, few long-term
studies have investigated behavior
over time, leaving a risk of unex-
pected behavior.
Long-Term Outlook
The photovoltaic industry’s shift to
bifacial cells and double-glass struc-
tures has driven the growth of poly-
olefin encapsulant use. Bifacial cells
capture light from both sides of the
solar panels. Polyolefin encapsu-
Preventing Delamination lants enhance the durability and op-
tical properties of these double-sided cells.
Delamination occurs when the encapsulant de-
taches from glass or backsheet of a solar panel. Polyolefin encapsulants show promise for reli-
Environmental stresses and external mechanism ability, but only time and research will uncover
loads, such as those caused by wind and snow, unknown failure modes. These may arise from
can lead to delamination. Acetic acid formation inappropriate formulations or insufficient pro-
from EVA encapsulants can lead to delamina- cessing. Future research may seek to investi-
tion, but polyolefin encapsulants demonstrate gate field reliability to aid manufacturers with
improved robustness in comparison. Research appropriate polyolefin material selection for so-
has shown that polyolefin encapsulants show lar panels.
Source – Plastics Engineering
RENEWABLE ENERGY INTEGRATION IN PLASTIC
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
n most plastic manufacturing plants, energy turers in Renewable Energy in Plastic Manufac-
isn’t something you think about once — it’s turing is not that it is a trend, but rather that the
Isomething you deal with every single day. Ma- old method is becoming increasingly difficult to
chines don’t stop, heaters keep running, com- maintain. Power costs fluctuate, outages affect
pressors kick in at odd hours, and the electricity production schedules, and clients — especially
meter never really slows down. international ones — are asking uncomfortable
This has been an accepted part of the business questions about carbon footprint.
over the years. However, in the recent past, this So instead of treating energy as a background
attitude has begun to change. expense, companies are beginning to treat it as
something they can actually control.
The trend behind the interest of more manufac-
May 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 49
