Degradation Analysis of Weathered Crystalline-Silicon PV Modules

We present an analysis of the results of a solar weathering program that found a linear relationship between maximum power degradation and the total UV exposure dose for four different types of commercial crystalline Si modules. The average degradation rate for the four modules types was 0.71% per year. The analysis showed that losses of short-circuit current were responsible for the maximum power degradation. Judging by the appearance of the undegraded control modules, it is very doubtful that the short-circuit current losses were caused by encapsulation browning or obscuration. When we compared the quantum efficiency of a single cell in a degraded module to one from an unexposed control module, it appears that most of the degradation has occurred in the 800 - 1100 nm wavelength region, and not the short wavelength region.