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

Title: 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

^[1];

^[2];

^[3]

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)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (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, Vol. 14, Issue 1; ISSN 1996-1073

Publisher:: MDPI AGCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (19)

Photovoltaic module performance and durability following long-term field exposure King, D. L.; Quintana, M. A.; Kratochvil, J. A. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 8, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-159X(200003/04)8:2<241::AID-PIP290>3.0.CO;2-D	journal	March 2000
Impact of Micro-Cracks on the Degradation of Solar Cell Performance Based On Two-Diode Model Parameters van Mölken, J. I.; Yusufoğlu, U. A.; Safiei, A. Energy Procedia, Vol. 27 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2012.07.046	journal	January 2012
In-Situ Characterization of Potential-Induced Degradation in Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules Through Dark I–V Measurements Luo, Wei; Hacke, Peter; Singh, Jai Prakash IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2621352	journal	January 2017
Systematic investigation of cracks in encapsulated solar cells after mechanical loading Sander, Martin; Dietrich, Sascha; Pander, Matthias Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 111 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2012.12.031	journal	April 2013
Modeling, imaging and resistance analysis for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules failure on thermal cycle test Du, Ying; Wang, Luchuang; Tao, Wusong Engineering Failure Analysis, Vol. 118 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2020.104818	journal	December 2020
The risk of power loss in crystalline silicon based photovoltaic modules due to micro-cracks Köntges, M.; Kunze, I.; Kajari-Schröder, S. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 95, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2010.10.034	journal	April 2011
Potential Induced Degradation of solar cells and panels Pingel, S.; Frank, O.; Winkler, M. 2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2010.5616823	conference	June 2010
Temperature-dependency analysis and correction methods of in situ power-loss estimation for crystalline silicon modules undergoing potential-induced degradation stress testing : Temperature-dependency analysis and correction methods Spataru, Sergiu; Hacke, Peter; Sera, Dezso Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 23, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2587	journal	January 2015
Causes of Degradation Identified by the Extended Thermal Cycling Test on Commercially Available Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules Kawai, Shinji; Tanahashi, Tadanori; Fukumoto, Yutaka IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2741102	journal	November 2017
Investigation of the double exponential in the current—Voltage characteristics of silicon solar cells Wolf, M.; Noel, G. T.; Stirn, R. J. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 24, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/T-ED.1977.18750	journal	April 1977
A review and comparison of different methods to determine the series resistance of solar cells Pysch, D.; Mette, A.; Glunz, S. W. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 91, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2007.05.026	journal	November 2007
Moisture sensor at glass/polymer interface for monitoring of photovoltaic module encapsulants Carlsson, Thomas; Halme, Janne; Lund, Peter Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol. 125, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2005.07.022	journal	January 2006
Accuracy of analytical expressions for solar cell fill factors Green, Martin A. Solar Cells, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0379-6787(82)90057-6	journal	December 1982
Potential-Induced Degradation (PID): Introduction of a Novel Test Approach and Explanation of Increased Depletion Region Recombination Lausch, Dominik; Naumann, Volker; Breitenstein, Otwin IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 4, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2300238	journal	May 2014
Evaluation of Dynamic Mechanical Loading as an accelerated test method for ribbon fatigue Bosco, Nick; Silverman, Timothy J.; Wohlgemuth, John 2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2013.6745128	conference	June 2013
Methods for In Situ Electroluminescence Imaging of Photovoltaic Modules Under Varying Environmental Conditions Owen-Bellini, Michael; Sulas-Kern, Dana B.; Perrin, Greg IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 10, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2020.3001723	journal	September 2020
Dark current-voltage measurements on photovoltaic modules as a diagnostic or manufacturing tool King, D. L.; Hansen, B. R.; Kratochvil, J. A. Conference Record of the Twenty Sixth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1997 https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1997.654286	conference	January 1997
Sequential and combined acceleration tests for crystalline Si photovoltaic modules Masuda, Atsushi; Yamamoto, Chizuko; Uchiyama, Naomi Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 55, Issue 4S https://doi.org/10.7567/JJAP.55.04ES10	journal	March 2016
Application of the superposition principle to solar-cell analysis Lindholm, F. A.; Fossum, J. G.; Burgess, E. L. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 26, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1109/T-ED.1979.19400	journal	March 1979

Similar Records

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

Conference · Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · OSTI ID:1769872

Spataru, Sergiu; Hacke, Pater; Sera, Dezso

Field‐representative evaluation of PID‐polarization in TOPCon PV modules by accelerated stress testing

Journal Article · Thu Jan 25 00:00:00 EST 2024 · Progress in Photovoltaics · OSTI ID:1769872

Hacke, Peter; Spataru, Sergiu; Habersberger, Brian; +1 more

Fault identification in crystalline silicon PV modules by complementary analysis of the light and dark current–voltage characteristics

Journal Article · Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Progress in Photovoltaics · OSTI ID:1769872

Spataru, Sergiu Viorel; Sera, Dezso; Hacke, Peter; +2 more

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
photovoltaic modules
accelerated stress testing
in-situ monitoring
dark I-V curves
thermal cycling
mechanical loading
degradation monitoring

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

Citation Formats

References (19)

Similar Records

Related Subjects