LAMINATES WILL BE SUBJECTED TO ACCELERATED TESTING IN HEAT AGING, IN A WEATHEROMETER AND A HUMIDITY CHAMBER.

LAMINATES WILL BE SUBJECTED TO ACCELERATED TESTING IN HEAT AGING, IN A WEATHEROMETER AND A HUMIDITY CHAMBER. THIN FILMS OF POLYVINYL FLUORIDE, POLYCARBONATE AND POLYMETHYL METHACRYATE WILL BE USED AS CONTROLS. ANY CHANGES IN PERCENT TRANSMISSION, ADHESION, MICRO-STRUCTURE AND PERMEABILITY WILL BE FOLLOWED AS A FUNCTION OF TIME AND CORRELATED WITH REAL LIFE PERFORMANCE DATA. THE RESULTING EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP WILL BE USED TO PREDICT THE ACTUAL LIFE SERVICE OF THE PROTOTYPES. STABLE AND TRANSPARENT POLYMERS USED FOR SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS ARE EXPENSIVE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A LAMINATE WITH ITS TOP LAY CONSISTING OF A THIN FILM OF STABLE POLYMER SUCH AS POLYVINYL-FLUORIDE AND THE BOTTOM LAYER CONSISTING OF AN INEXPENSIVE POLYMER SUCH AS AN ACRYLIC. EXPERIMENTAL LAMINATES WILL BE PREPARED BY LAMINATING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE THIN FILMS OR SHEETS OF POLYMERS AND EVALUATED SO THAT THE PROTOTYPE HAS A SOLAR TRANSMITTANCE ABOVE 0.92, A LIFE TIME OF 10-15 YEARS, AND A POTENTIAL OF COSTING LESS THAN $5/M(2).