Failure analysis of crystalline silicon solar cells

Why is cracking important in silicon solar cells?

Cracking in Silicon solar cells is an important factor for the electrical power-loss of photovoltaic modules. Simple geometrical criteria identifying the amount of inactive cell areas depending on the position of cracks with respect to the main electric conductors have been proposed in the literature to predict worst case scenarios.

Why do silicon solar cells lose power?

Results revealed some defects, such as; physical material defects, decreasing in the cell shunt resistance and increase in the cell series resistance that have mainly contributed in drop of output power. The hot desert climates affect the performance and lifetime of silicon solar cells negatively.

How does degradation of polycrystalline silicon affect PV panels performance?

An early degradation of polycrystalline silicon cells is appeared after few years, the output power is drop up to 21% in 6 years in field. Degradation rates show increasing of series resistance and decreasing of shunt resistance that led to reduce the fill factor, hence the PV panels performance.

Are crystalline silicon solar cells reliable in hot desert climates?

Increasing in cell series resistance has mainly contributed to degradation performance. Objectives of the work are to understand the challenges related to the technical performance and reliability of crystalline silicon solar cells in hot desert climates, where heat and high UV experienced in the region pose a challenge for the optimal performance.

How encapsulant discoloration affect crystalline silicon solar cell degradation performance?

Encapsulant discoloration is the main observed degradation mechanisms and increasing in the cell series resistance has mainly contributed to degradation performance of crystalline silicon solar cell in field.

Do solar cells have coupling induced by cracking?

At present, electric models of solar cells do not consider this form of coupling induced by cracking. In the most refined versions 21, 22, a discretization of the solar cell is made in the plane and a two-diode model is applied to each node of the mesh to predict the electric response of the semiconductor.