NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

“Trial-Run of a Junction-Box Attachment Test for 

Use in Photovoltaic Module Qualification”

David C. Miller,1 Scott L. Deibert,1 and John H. Wohlgemuth1 

1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO, USA 80401

 

IEEE PVSC Conference (June 8-13,2014, Denver, CO)

Colorado Convention Center , #617 in Session “Area 12”, Mile High Ballroom 2B 

2014/06/11 (Weds) 11:15 – 11:30 am 

NREL/PR-5200-62111
2 2

Motivation for the Project

• J-box attachment often proves a 

milestone to module manufacturers ... 

possible consequences of field failure

•Possible failure mechanisms: phase 

transformation, creep, cohesive failure, 

delamination of -attachment system- 

•Present qualification test: 

 “robustness of termination” 

 [Pull ⊥ against j-box 40 N load]. 

 Perform at room temperature, after:

 [UV preconditioning, thermal-cycle, humidity-freeze]

•Discovery experiments suggest that 

problematic systems can be readily 

identified with an applied weight during 

the safety & qualification protocols.

2

viscosity (flow rate) vs. 1/T for thermoplastic polymer

possible field failure mode(s) at the junction-box

D.C. Miller et. al., Proc. IEEE PVSC, 2010, 262-268.

Miller et. al., Proc. SPIE, 2012, 8472-22. (paper and presentation) 
3

Proposed Use of the Weighted Junction-Box Test

• Apply in:

 “damp-heat” (85°C, 85% RH for 1000 hours), and 

 “thermal-cycle” (-40°C↔85°C for 200 cycles), protocols as in IEC 61215;

 “creep” (105°C, nominally dry for 200 hours) as in IEC 61730-2.

• Attach weight (e.g., 1 kg) to the junction box.

 J-box is in condition (sealed) as in use.

Use wires, clips, etc. for attachment.

• Modules oriented upright (maximum packing density in chamber).

Typically renders applied shear load, with possible out of plane strain.

• Emulate intermittent wind, snow, external (e.g., animal) loads in 

installations with limited cable management

(routing trays and cable ties). 

Details of the attachment (using steel wire) 

for the weights in a 4-rail specimen.

Miller et. al., Proc. SPIE, 2012, 8472-22. (paper and presentation) 
4

Details of (Recent) Discovery Test for the (Present) Trial-Run

Scope

• (10) adhesives examined: acrylic, polyethylene, polyurethane foam tapes; 

acetoxy, oxime, alkoxy cured silicones; ethylene-co-vinyl acetate, 

polyethylene/polyoctene, polyamide hot melts. 

• (2) substrates examined: PET backsheet or glass,

 with corresponding 4- or 2-rail j-boxes.

• (6) “weights” examined in damp-heat: 0, 0.5, 0.9, 1.4, 2.3, 4.5 kg.

• Materials characterizations: TGA (Td), DSC (Tg, Tm, & Tf), DMA (G’ & tan [δ]).

Outcomes

• Durable and incompatible foam tape, silicone, and hot melt enabled 

attachment systems were identified.

• Merits of each adhesive type identified from chamber & material tests.

• Failure modes of delamination, creep, and low green 

strength were observed. 

• Down-selected to the proposed weights: 0.5 or 1 kg.

All module-level experiments were previously performed in damp-heat.

Discovery experiments, see:

Miller et. al., Proc. SPIE, 2012, 8472-22. 
5

Goals and Considerations for the Present Trail Run Experiment

• Examine a representative set of known good, known incompatible, and 

intermediate attachment systems. 

• Validate the test protocol by comparing indoor- and field-aging (“climate”) 

conditions. 

• Compare indoor- and field-configurations (0° vs. 45°, respectively).

• Examine a variety of outdoor environments, 1 year in: hot-dry (Phoenix), 

hot-humid (Miami), steppe climate (Golden).

• Examine a wider variety of attachment systems (substrate/adhesive/j-box).

Representative specimen, constructed for the trial-run, 

photographed after completing the “damp-heat” indoor 

aging. The deflector tray used to protect the second 

(lower) row of specimens is labeled.

Photo of specimens fielded in Phoenix after 1 week.
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The Specimens Used in the Present Trail Run Experiment

Adhesives: 

• acrylic, PE, PU foam tapes

• PO hot-melt

• acetoxy, alkoxy, alkoxy, oxmine silicones

Photos of the (a) front and (b) back of the specimens fielded in Golden after 25 days.

Substrates: 

• Kynar/PET/EVA

• Tedlar/PET/EVA

• THV/PET/EVA

• low-iron, soda-lime glass (untempered) 

Weights: 0, 0.5, or 0.9 kg. 

 J-boxes: 4- and 2-rail, as in Miller et. al., Proc. SPIE, 2012, 8472-22. 

 
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Comparison of Ambient Conditions at the Field Sites

• Temperature (ambient and module back), relative humidity, and 

wind speed were recorded at the field sites.

Summary of the measured ambient and module average temperature conditions. The ambient (dark red) and module (red) values are given 

for Phoenix; the ambient (dark blue) and module (blue) values are given for Miami. The ambient (dark green) values are given for Golden. 

LOCATION MEASURAND T av g

{°C}

T max

{°C}

T min

{°C}

RHav g

{%}

wav g

{m⋅s-1}

wmax

{m⋅s-1}

Golden ambient 12.9 36.4 -18.1 42.0 2.0 17.2

Miami ambient 23.8 36.8 4.2 74.8 2.4 15.0

Phoenix ambient 22.7 45.8 -3.4 32.2 3.0 13.7

Miami module 28.5 74.0 0.0 N/A N/A N/A

Phoenix module 28.4 78.3 -6.5 N/A N/A N/A

Summary of the ambient and module temperature 

conditions. The average, maximum, and minimum 

temperatures; average relative humidity; and average and 

maximum wind speed are provided for the 1-year 

deployment period (conditions including both day and night).

• Miami had the greatest RHavg. 

(it was <85%).

• Phoenix had the greatest Tmax and wavg.

• Golden had the lowest Tmin. 

(greatest T range). 

• Golden had the greatest wmax. 

(foothills location).
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Summary of the Results of the Trial-Run 

• 108 specimens per location

• 432 total specimens

• 66 failures 

Results for the aged mock module specimens. The

results for the damp-heat test are indicated in

green font (failures are shaded yellow, with

indications including: failure mode; time to

failure, in days; and the failure interface). The

results for the subsequent creep test are similarly

indicated in red font. The results for the fieldaged specimens are not distinguished by color. 

“N.F.” indicates that no failure occurred during

the trial-run experiment. “GS” indicates the high

green-strength alkoxy silicone. 

• Observed failure modes: 

delamination or creep.
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Characteristics of Failure By Delamination

• 17 for failures for PE foam tape.

• All failures at surface/core interface.

• Likely affected by Tm = 51°C.

Examples of delamination: (above) loss of adhesion between 

the j-box surface and PO melt; (below) loss of adhesion 

between the PE foam tape surface- and core-layers. 

• 46 failures at melt/j-box interface for PO 

melt.

• 10 failures at substrate/melt interface, 

specifically on glass or TPE substrates. 

• Melt/j-box failure observed indoors; 

glass/melt common outdoors.

• Latent delamination of TPE/melt only in 

Phoenix & Golden.

• All PO results likely affected by Tm = 81°C.

Miller et. al., Proc. SPIE, 2012, 8472-22. (paper and presentation) 
10

Characteristics of Creep Failure

• Creep for (1) PO melt specimen.

• Tm = 81°C.

• Translation for indoor DH test only.

Same samples instead delaminated 

outdoors.

Examples of creep failure: (above) rotation of the PU 

foam tape on KPE substrate; (below) displacement of PO 

melt or detachment at the PO melt/j-box surface with 

subsequent displacement of the PO melt.

• Creep for (1) PE and (1) PU foam tape specimen. 

• Tm = 51°C; Tg = -26°C, respectively.

• Rotation, observed for indoor damp heat test only.
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Observations and Implications of the Test Results

Indoor results: 

• Most failures in damp heat occurred quickly, i.e., <1 day. 

⇒Sustained high humidity contributes to failure.

• Additional failures, comparable with field results, observed for creep test.

⇒Suggests creep test is required in addition to DH and/or TC.

Field results: 

• Most failures occurred at Miami. 

• Miami showed the most delamination failures.

• DH results exceeded Miami field results.

• Failures observed quickest for PO melt in Phoenix. 

• 1 additional delamination observed, PE tape in Golden.

• Creep test better correlated to Phoenix field results.

Comparison of indoor- and field-results: 

• Good correlation: PO melt & PE tape consistently identified as weakest systems.

• Instances of different duration of longevitiy, and modes (interfaces) of failure:

PE tape failed with weights; but not always without weights.

⇒Suggests weight is required to adequately assess the system during the test.

Photo of specimens 

fielded in Miami.
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Perspective From Attachment Strength Tests

• Overlap-shear (ISO 4587) and butt joint (ISO 6922) tests applied to acrylic tape 

and alkoxy silicone adhesives. Al/adhesive/glass coupons. 

• Both types of material demonstrated substantial elongation at failure.

• Acrylic tape demonstrated an overt rate dependence for attachment strength.

• Greatest σ and corresponding ε for: the tape in shear or silicone in tension.

• Attachment strength greatly exceeds corresponding stress for j-box weights.

⇒σ/ε results akin to “robustness of termination” test, not a sustained load.

Results of the adhesion strength characterization (overlap-shear test) for: foam tape (left, acrylic #2) and silicone 

(alkoxy cure with Ti catalyst, right). A representative (median) data profile is provided for each of the test rates used.

acrylic tape #2 alkoxy silicone
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Summary

• In trial-run, good correspondence between indoor- and field-results, i.e., 

between mode types & specific material systems affected. 

• A weight is required to adequately assess the 

 j-box attachment system.

• 1 kg weight is recommended to more rigorously examine the attachment 

system. 

• Multiple indoor test conditions (DH & creep) correlated best to the outdoor 

field results.

• The sustained load condition (far below the maximum attachment strength) 

emulated in the weighted j-box test is very different from the existing 

“robustness of termination” test.
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Acknowledgements

NREL STM campus, Dennis Schroeder

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under 

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 with the National Renewable 

Energy Laboratory.

• NREL: Dr. Peter Hacke, Dr. Michael Kempe, Dr. Heidi Pilath, 

Thomas Bethel, Ed Gelak, Greg Perrin, Kent Terwilliger, David Trudell

See also the manuscript: “Examination of a Junction-Box Adhesion Test 

for Use in Photovoltaic Module Qualification”, Proc. IEEE PVSC Conf. 2014.
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Additional Slides Follow for Reference...
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The J-Box Temperature Can Vary From the “Module” Temperature

Recent T data for a thin-film T-type TC taped to the back of PV modules:

• A ~15°C range may exist across a module (center to frame).

• Tmax of 105°C for roof-mounted modules in Phoenix.

Kempe et. al., Field Testing of Thermoplastic 

Encapsulants in High Temperature Installations, 

submitted. 

• Roof-mounted ~15°C warmer than rack-mounted modules.

King et. al. SAND2004-3535 2004; 1-43.

Miller et. al., Proc. IEEE PVSC, 2010, 262-268.

Optical and infrared images of modules in Golden on a hot 

summer day (July 2013). Typical TC site marked with an ‘X’.

This study:

• Measurement site: module 

center, between j-boxes.

• In the field, j-box is typically 

hotter than the module interior 

(cell temperature).

• Thermography identified j-box as 

~5°C hotter than module interior.

X 

X 
17

The J-Box Temperature in the Field Tests

50 cm 40°C

60°C

50°C

55°C

45°C

Optical and infrared images of modules in Golden on a hot summer day (July 2014). 
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Overlap-Shear Test Results

Overlap-shear test results for: foam tape (left, acrylic #2) and silicone (alkoxy cure with Ti catalyst, right). 

A representative (median) data profile is provided for each of the test rates used.

•The tape and silicone would both typically elongate in shear before delamination. 
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“Pluck” (Butt Joint) Test Results

Butt joint test results for: foam tape (left, acrylic #2) and silicone (alkoxy cure with Ti catalyst, right). 

A representative (median) data profile is provided for each of the test rates used.

•Tape & silicone sudden failures in pluck