Service lifetime prediction for encapsulated photovoltaic cells/minimodules
- Center for Performance Engineering and Reliability, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado 80401-3393 (United States)
The overall purposes of this paper are to elucidate the crucial importance of predicting the service lifetime (SLP) for photovoltaics (PV) modules and to present an outline for developing a SLP methodology for encapsulated PV cells and minimodules. The specific objectives are (a) to illustrate the generic nature of SLP for several types of solar energy conversion or conversion devices, (b) to summarize the major durability issues concerned with these devices, (c) to justify using SLP in the triad of cost, performance, and durability instead of only durability, (d) to define and explain the seven major elements that comprise a generic SLP methodology, (e) to provide background about implementing the SLP methodology for PV cells and minimodules including the complexity of the encapsulation problems, (f) to summarize briefly the past focus of our task for improving and/or replacing ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as a PV pottant, and (g) to provide an outline of our present and future studies using encapsulated PV cells and minimodules for improving the encapsulation of PV cells and predicting a service lifetime for them using the SLP methodology outlined in objective (d). By using this methodology, our major conclusion is that predicting the service lifetime of PV cells and minimodules is possible. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 552835
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961178-; ISSN 0094-243X; TRN: 9722M0027
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 394, Issue 1; Conference: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)/Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) photovoltaics program review meeting, Lakewood, CO (United States), 18-22 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: Feb 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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