Abstract: Thin film photovoltaic devices including a transparent substrate; a thin film stack comprising a transparent conductive oxide layer, a photovoltaic heterojunction, and back contact layer; and, an encapsulation material arranged such that the thin film stack is positioned between the transparent substrate and the encapsulation material are generally provided. The encapsulation material defines a rib element and can be generally positioned such that the rib element extends away from the thin film stack.

Abstract: Thin film photovoltaic devices are generally provided. The thin film photovoltaic devices can include a transparent substrate that has a first volumetric thermal expansion coefficient; a thin film stack comprising a transparent conductive oxide layer, a photovoltaic heterojunction, and back contact layer; and, a composite encapsulation material on the back contact layer. The thin film stack is generally positioned between the transparent substrate and the composite encapsulation material. The composite encapsulation material can have a second volumetric thermal expansion coefficient that is within about +/?40% of the first volumetric thermal expansion coefficient of the transparent substrate.