In-Situ Measurement of Power Loss for Crystalline Silicon Modules Undergoing Thermal Cycling and Mechanical Loading Stress Testing

Spataru, Sergiu; Hacke, Peter; Sera, Dezso

doi:10.3390/en14010072

In-Situ Measurement of Power Loss for Crystalline Silicon Modules Undergoing Thermal Cycling and Mechanical Loading Stress Testing

Journal Article · Fri Dec 25 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Energies

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010072· OSTI ID:1769872

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Technical Univ. of Denmark, Roskilde (Denmark)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Queensland Univ. of Technology, Brisbane City, QLD (Australia)

An in-situ method is proposed for monitoring and estimating the power degradation of mc-Si photovoltaic (PV) modules undergoing thermo-mechanical degradation tests that primarily manifest through cell cracking, such as mechanical load tests, thermal cycling and humidity freeze tests. The method is based on in-situ measurement of the module’s dark current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curve during the stress test, as well as initial and final module flash testing on a Sun simulator. The method uses superposition of the dark I-V curve with final flash test module short-circuit current to account for shunt and junction recombination losses, as well as series resistance estimation from the in-situ measured dark I-Vs and final flash test measurements. The method is developed based on mc-Si standard modules undergoing several stages of thermo-mechanical stress testing and degradation, for which we investigate the impact of the degradation on the modules light I-V curve parameters, and equivalent solar cell model parameters. Experimental validation of the method on the modules tested shows good agreement between the in-situ estimated power degradation and the flash test measured power loss of the modules, of up to 4.31 % error (RMSE), as the modules experience primarily junction defect recombination and increased series resistance losses. However, the application of the method will be limited for modules experiencing extensive photo-current degradation or delamination, which are not well reflected in the dark I-V characteristic of the PV module.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1769872

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5K00-79374; MainId:33600; UUID:974fea2f-edfa-4728-ab42-ed756c53a725; MainAdminID:19859

Journal Information:: Energies, Journal Name: Energies Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 1996-1073

Publisher:: MDPI AGCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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