UV‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency silicon PV modules with different cell architectures
Abstract
Degradation from ultraviolet (UV) radiation has become prevalent in the front of solar cells due to the introduction of UV-transmitting encapsulants in photovoltaic (PV) module construction. Here, we examine UV-induced degradation (UVID) in various commercial, unencapsulated crystalline silicon cell technologies, including bifacial silicon heterojunction (HJ), interdigitated back contact (IBC), passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC), and passivated emitter rear totally diffused (PERT) solar cells. We performed UV exposure tests using UVA-340 fluorescent lamps at 1.24 W·m–2 (at 340 nm) and 45°C through 4.02 MJ·m–2 (2000 h). Our results showed that modern cell architectures are more vulnerable to UVID, leading to a significant power decrease (–3.6% on average; –11.8% maximum) compared with the conventional aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) cells (<–1% on average). The power degradation is largely caused by the decrease in short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. A greater power decrease is observed in bifacial cells with rear-side exposure compared with those with front-side exposure, indicating that the rear side is more susceptible to UV damage. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) confirmed an increase in hydrogen concentration near the Si/passivation interface in HJ and IBC cells after UV exposure; the excess of hydrogen could result in hydrogen-induced degradation and subsequentlymore »
- Authors:
-
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Menlo Park California USA
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden Colorado USA
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1875203
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1877600; OSTI ID: 1885574; OSTI ID: 1889840; OSTI ID: 1902555
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5900-81471
Journal ID: ISSN 1062-7995
- Grant/Contract Number:
- 32509; DE‐AC36‐08GO28308; AC02-76SF00515; AC36-08GO28308
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Progress in Photovoltaics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Progress in Photovoltaics Journal Volume: 31 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1062-7995
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; bifacial heterojunction; PV modules; UV-induced degradation; UVID
Citation Formats
Sinha, Archana, Qian, Jiadong, Moffitt, Stephanie L., Hurst, Katherine, Terwilliger, Kent, Miller, David C., Schelhas, Laura T., and Hacke, Peter. UV‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency silicon PV modules with different cell architectures. United Kingdom: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.1002/pip.3606.
Sinha, Archana, Qian, Jiadong, Moffitt, Stephanie L., Hurst, Katherine, Terwilliger, Kent, Miller, David C., Schelhas, Laura T., & Hacke, Peter. UV‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency silicon PV modules with different cell architectures. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3606
Sinha, Archana, Qian, Jiadong, Moffitt, Stephanie L., Hurst, Katherine, Terwilliger, Kent, Miller, David C., Schelhas, Laura T., and Hacke, Peter. Thu .
"UV‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency silicon PV modules with different cell architectures". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3606.
@article{osti_1875203,
title = {UV‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency silicon PV modules with different cell architectures},
author = {Sinha, Archana and Qian, Jiadong and Moffitt, Stephanie L. and Hurst, Katherine and Terwilliger, Kent and Miller, David C. and Schelhas, Laura T. and Hacke, Peter},
abstractNote = {Degradation from ultraviolet (UV) radiation has become prevalent in the front of solar cells due to the introduction of UV-transmitting encapsulants in photovoltaic (PV) module construction. Here, we examine UV-induced degradation (UVID) in various commercial, unencapsulated crystalline silicon cell technologies, including bifacial silicon heterojunction (HJ), interdigitated back contact (IBC), passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC), and passivated emitter rear totally diffused (PERT) solar cells. We performed UV exposure tests using UVA-340 fluorescent lamps at 1.24 W·m–2 (at 340 nm) and 45°C through 4.02 MJ·m–2 (2000 h). Our results showed that modern cell architectures are more vulnerable to UVID, leading to a significant power decrease (–3.6% on average; –11.8% maximum) compared with the conventional aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) cells (<–1% on average). The power degradation is largely caused by the decrease in short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage. A greater power decrease is observed in bifacial cells with rear-side exposure compared with those with front-side exposure, indicating that the rear side is more susceptible to UV damage. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) confirmed an increase in hydrogen concentration near the Si/passivation interface in HJ and IBC cells after UV exposure; the excess of hydrogen could result in hydrogen-induced degradation and subsequently cause higher recombination losses. Additionally, surface oxidation and hot-carrier damage were identified in PERT cells. Using a spectral-based analysis, we obtained an acceleration factor of 5× between unpackaged cells (containing a silicon nitride antireflective coating on the front) in the UV test and an encapsulated module (with the front glass and encapsulant blocking 90% of the UV at 294 nm and 353 nm, respectively) in outdoor conditions. From the analytical calculations, we show that a UV-blocking encapsulant can reduce UV transmission in the module by an additional factor of ~50.},
doi = {10.1002/pip.3606},
journal = {Progress in Photovoltaics},
number = 1,
volume = 31,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Thu Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Thu Jul 07 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3606
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