Method of manufacture of a coated glazing

Abstract

A method of manufacture of a coated glazing includes the following steps in sequence a) providing a transparent glass substrate, b) etching a surface of the substrate with an acidic gas, and c) directly or indirectly coating said surface with at least one layer based on a transparent conductive coating (TCC) and / or at least one layer based on a material with a refractive index of at least 1.75.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to a coated glazing, a method of manufacture of said glazing and the use of an acidic gas to increase the haze (light scattering) exhibited by a coated glazing.[0002]There is currently significant interest in devices such as photovoltaic (PV) modules, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). There is also considerable attention given to glass for horticulture. Manufacturers of these devices and glazings aim to manipulate light in a number of different ways.[0003]Photovoltaic (PV) modules or solar cells are material junction devices which convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electrical power. When exposed to sunlight (consisting of energy from photons), the electric field of PV module p-n junctions separates pairs of free electrons and holes, thus generating a photo-voltage. A circuit from n-side to p-side allows the flow of electrons when the PV module is connected to an electrical load, whil...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0040]It has surprisingly been found that by acid etching a surface of a glass substrate and subsequently coating said surface with a layer based on a transparent conductive coating (TCC) and / or a layer based on a material with a refractive index of at least 1.75 that a coated glazing with beneficial light scattering properties can be obtained. Such a glazing can be used in LEDs and OLEDs to improve light extraction, in PV modules to promote the trapping of light to boost efficiency, and in horticultural applications where the transmission of diffuse light is favoured.

[0047]The CVD may preferably be carried out when the glass substrate is at a temperature in the range 450° C. to 800° C., more preferably when the glass substrate is at a temperature in the range 550° C. to 700° C. Depositing a CVD coating when the glass substrate is at these preferred temperatures affords greater crystallinity of the coating, which can improve toughenability (resistance to heat treatment).

[0054]Preferably the surface of the glass substrate that is etched and coated is the gas side surface. Coated glass manufacturers usually prefer depositing coatings on the gas side surface (as opposed to the tin side surface for float glass) because deposition on the gas side surface can improve the properties of the coating.

Problems solved by technology

Better stability requires the use of thinner layers, however, this reduces light absorption and hence cell efficiency.

However, they are relatively expensive and require more precise current and heat management than traditional light sources.