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Title: Silicon Heterojunction System Field Performance

Abstract

A silicon heterostructure photovoltaic system fielded for 10 years has been investigated in detail. The system has shown degradation, but at a rate similar to an average Si system, and still within the module warranty level. The power decline is dominated by a nonlinear Voc loss rather than more typical changes in Isc or Fill Factor. Modules have been evaluated using multiple techniques including: dark and light I-V measurement, Suns-Voc, thermal imaging, and quantitative electroluminescence. All techniques indicate that recombination and series resistance in the cells have increased along with a decrease of factor 2 in minority carrier lifetime. Performance changes are fairly uniform across the module, indicating changes occur primarily within the cells.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States)
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  4. Sinton Instruments, Boulder, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1413901
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5J00-68683
Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
14 SOLAR ENERGY; 42 ENGINEERING; degradation rates; durability; heterojunction with intrinsic thin-film layer; photovoltaic field performance; Si heterojunction

Citation Formats

Jordan, Dirk C., Deline, Chris, Johnston, Steve, Rummel, Steve R., Sekulic, Bill, Hacke, Peter, Kurtz, Sarah R., Davis, Kristopher O., Schneller, Eric John, Sun, Xingshu, Alam, Muhammad A., and Sinton, Ronald A. Silicon Heterojunction System Field Performance. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2765680.
Jordan, Dirk C., Deline, Chris, Johnston, Steve, Rummel, Steve R., Sekulic, Bill, Hacke, Peter, Kurtz, Sarah R., Davis, Kristopher O., Schneller, Eric John, Sun, Xingshu, Alam, Muhammad A., & Sinton, Ronald A. Silicon Heterojunction System Field Performance. United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2765680
Jordan, Dirk C., Deline, Chris, Johnston, Steve, Rummel, Steve R., Sekulic, Bill, Hacke, Peter, Kurtz, Sarah R., Davis, Kristopher O., Schneller, Eric John, Sun, Xingshu, Alam, Muhammad A., and Sinton, Ronald A. Fri . "Silicon Heterojunction System Field Performance". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2765680. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1413901.
@article{osti_1413901,
title = {Silicon Heterojunction System Field Performance},
author = {Jordan, Dirk C. and Deline, Chris and Johnston, Steve and Rummel, Steve R. and Sekulic, Bill and Hacke, Peter and Kurtz, Sarah R. and Davis, Kristopher O. and Schneller, Eric John and Sun, Xingshu and Alam, Muhammad A. and Sinton, Ronald A.},
abstractNote = {A silicon heterostructure photovoltaic system fielded for 10 years has been investigated in detail. The system has shown degradation, but at a rate similar to an average Si system, and still within the module warranty level. The power decline is dominated by a nonlinear Voc loss rather than more typical changes in Isc or Fill Factor. Modules have been evaluated using multiple techniques including: dark and light I-V measurement, Suns-Voc, thermal imaging, and quantitative electroluminescence. All techniques indicate that recombination and series resistance in the cells have increased along with a decrease of factor 2 in minority carrier lifetime. Performance changes are fairly uniform across the module, indicating changes occur primarily within the cells.},
doi = {10.1109/JPHOTOV.2017.2765680},
journal = {IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics},
number = 1,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Fri Nov 17 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Real-time monitoring and diagnosis of photovoltaic system degradation only using maximum power point-the Suns-Vmp method
journal, July 2018

  • Sun, Xingshu; Chavali, Raghu Vamsi Krishna; Alam, Muhammad Ashraful
  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 27, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/pip.3043

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