Thin-Film Reliability Trends Toward Improved Stability
Long-term, stable performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules will be increasingly important to their successful penetration of the power grid. This paper summarizes more than 150 thin-film and more than 1700 silicon PV degradation rates (R{sub d}) quoted in publications for locations worldwide. Partitioning the literature results by technology and date of installation statistical analysis shows an improvement in degradation rate especially for thin-film technologies in the last decade. A CIGS array deployed at NREL for more than 5 years that appears to be stable supports the literature trends. Indoor and outdoor data indicate undetectable change in performance (0.2 {+-} 0.2 %/yr). One module shows signs of slight degradation from what appears to be an initial manufacturing defect, however it has not affected the overall system performance.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1049636
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: [Proceedings] 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC '11), 19-24 June 2011, Seattle, Washington; Related Information: See NREL/CP-5200-50726 for preprint
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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