Solar Cell Metallization Wear is Sensitive to Loading Frequency

We performed cyclic loading of photovoltaic laminates with precracked silicon cells to explore if and how loading frequency and contact pressure influence the ensuing gridline wear-out process. A measurement of parallel resistance across cracked gridlines on a laminated cell coupon was used as the metric for gridline electrical contact degradation. A statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis of the experimental results discerned that loading frequency is a more significant factor than contact pressure for gridline degradation.