Photovoltaic Module Imaging for Hail Damage Assessment with Multi-Year Follow Up

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

1 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Outdoor-aged photovoltaic modules that have experienced golf-ball sized hail are characterized by flash testing and photoluminescence, electroluminescence, thermal, and ultraviolet fluorescence imaging. These measurements were performed immediately after the hailstorm and then again after another two years and four years in the field. The modules originally experienced different ranges of hail damage with some having cracks on approximately half of the cells and some having few to no cracked cells. Flash testing shows that the hail-damaged modules with the most cracked cells have 3 to 4% less power than those with the least damage. After four more years in the outdoor climate of Golden, Colorado since the hailstorm, all of the modules still exhibit similar relative power and amounts of cell cracking, suggesting that the hail damage has only initially reduced power but has not yet increased the degradation rate.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages763-766
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Jun 2021
Event48th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2021 - Fort Lauderdale, United States
Duration: 20 Jun 202125 Jun 2021

Conference

Conference48th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityFort Lauderdale
Period20/06/2125/06/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5K00-78969

Keywords

  • electroluminescence
  • imaging
  • photovoltaic cells
  • reliability

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