A Method of Producing Low-Density, High-Strength Thin Cement Sheets: Pilot Run for a Glass-Free Solar Panel

• Published in: Materials Vol. 16; no. 23; p. 7500
• Main Authors: Deng, Jyh-Jeng, Lin, Teng-Hsuan, Wang, Jean-Shyan, Hsiao, Yao-Chung, Tu, Grung-Yi, Huang, Qi-Hung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.12.2023
• Subjects: Aluminum; backsheet; Cement; Composite materials; Density; Electricity; Ethylene; Ethylene vinyl acetates; EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate); Foaming agents; glass-free solar panel; High strength; low-density and high-strength thin cement sheet; Methods; Polyethylene terephthalate; Polymers; Portland cements; Powders; Production methods; sandwiched cement sheet; Seaweeds; Solar panels; Sun; Ultraviolet radiation; Taiwan; United States > US; backsheet; sandwiched cement sheet; EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate); glass-free solar panel; low-density and high-strength thin cement sheet
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma16237500

This paper presents an innovative method of producing a low-density, high-strength, thin cement sheet. A seaweed powder was mixed with Portland cement, a foaming agent, calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA), and a quantity of water to create an A4-sized thin sheet with a thickness of 7 mm, which can withstand 1.5 kg in weight. This sheet was then covered with ethylene vinyl acetate and a backsheet to create a sandwiched cement sheet. The advantages of this sandwiched cement sheet are two-fold. First, it can support up to 13 kg in a static mechanical loading test, without bending, for over eight hours. Second, it can be quickly recovered at the end of its life cycle. This was a preliminary experiment to produce a large cement sheet that could satisfy the loading requirements for a solar panel. The purpose of the large, thin cement sheet is to replace the glass in a conventional solar panel and create a lightweight solar panel of less than 10 kg, which would mean that the installation of solar panels would become a one-person operation rather than a two-person operation. It would also increase the efficiency of the solar panel installation process.