Abstract
Understanding the causes of photovoltaic module failure in the field can be achieved using spatially-resolved imaging tools in combination with current-voltage (IV) characterization. We evaluate 23 field-degraded modules by comparing their IV characteristics with module images obtained by electroluminescence, photoluminescence, UV-fluorescence, and dark lock-in thermography. We identify primarily metallization failures (metallization series resistance, solder point heating, broken fingers, disrupted interconnects) in these modules that has led to a severe drop in the fill factor and up to 35% power loss over only 2 years of deployment.
Original language | American English |
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Pages | 2008-2012 |
Number of pages | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2019 |
Event | 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019 - Chicago, United States Duration: 16 Jun 2019 → 21 Jun 2019 |
Conference
Conference | 46th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2019 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Chicago |
Period | 16/06/19 → 21/06/19 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019 IEEE.
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-5K00-73526
Keywords
- electroluminescence
- imaging
- photoluminescence
- reliability
- solar panels
- thermal analysis