Translating Material-Level Characterization of Carbon-Nanotube-Reinforced Composite Gridlines to Module-Level Degradation
Cell cracks in PV modules caused by poor handling during shipping and installation as well as from extreme weather events can lead to gradual or immediate power degradation. To directly address cell-crack-induced degradation, we have formulated a carbon nanotube additive for commercial screen printed silver pastes. We have shown in previous work that these metal matrix composites have little to no effect on the cell's efficiency while enhancing the metallization's fracture toughness and electrical gap-bridging capability. In this work, we focus on translating materials level characterization techniques to module level degradation. We found that we get conflicting results from two different methods of measuring the metallization's ability to electrically bridge gaps in cracked solar cells. Mini-module stress testing is currently underway to determine which materials characterization correlates well with the min-module degradation characteristics.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1909902
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP-5K00-85032; MainId:85805; UUID:0cec5896-f0e7-4cdf-855d-b0d7aa5542c4; MainAdminID:68487
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Presented at the 2022 IEEE 49th Photovoltaics Specialists Conference (PVSC), 5-10 June 2022, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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