Influence of Photovoltaic-Module Handling on Solar Cell Cracking

When installing Photovoltaic on Building, the mounting system significantly affects the heat-exchange between the module and the building envelope and the operating temperatures of the PV modules that strongly influence the energy yield of the PV system. For this reason it is important to be able to simulate and evaluate in advance the behavior and the possible advantages of a certain type of installation. This study aims to quantify the gains or losses in performance which are obtained by different levels or types of integration. Two outdoor measurement test stands were used to reproduce a realistic BIPV module integration: one of them without any ventilation in roof-top position (6° from the horizontal) and the other one in vertical facade position, ventilated and not. Some free-standing (ventilated) modules with 45° and 6° inclination are used for inter-comparison. The module packages consisted in different insulating materials and air cavities with always the same micromorph module technology at the top. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) based modules have the special characteristic to be able to temporarily recover part of the so called initial Staebler–Wronski degradation through thermal annealing. The study demonstrated that for a moderate climate as Lugano the gain in performance due to thermal annealing at higher operating temperatures compensates most of the losses, given by the negative Pmax temperature coefficient. The energy output of the integrated modules is almost the same as for the ventilated modules

Planar concentrators are used in the current manuscript to improve the solar PV system parameters (electrical energy, array yield, and solar irradiation). Additionally, study the temperature (both the ambient temperature and the temperature of the PV modules), performance ratio, and efficiency. The current PV system is situated at Al-Taji town in Baghdad. These improvements are achieved by using planar concentrators to increase solar radiation (made of aluminium metal). The results demonstrated a 21% increase in the yearly average energy output for improved solar PV modules. The improved solar PV modules' average yearly array yield increased by 20.6%. Compared to the reference PV modules, the improved solar PV modules received 24% more solar irradiation yearly on average. The monthly average of the performance ratio (PR) and efficiency to the improved solar PV modules and reference solar PV modules are 89.3% & 13.61%, and 91.2% & 13.89%, respectively. The yearly average temperatures of the reference PV solar modules and improved PV solar modules are 48.8OC and 46.0OC, respectively, at an average ambient temperature of 29.2OC. The originality of this work is the successful improvement of the electrical energy of the grid-tied PV system, in addition to studying the performance of the second generation of photovoltaic solar modules (CIGS), where CIGS is the PV module technology that is used in this manuscript.

Maximization of power from a solar photovoltaic (SPV) module is of special interest as the efficiency of the SPV module is very low. The present work describes the maximum power point tracker (MPPT) for the SPV module connected at variable load conditions. A personal computer (PC) is used for control of the MPPT algorithm. The power tracker is developed and tested successfully in the laboratory. The simulations are carried out in Matlab/Simulink. Data acquisition, monitoring, and control are done by the dSPACE software. Different types of algorithms are studied. The algorithm implemented here is “perturb and observe” in a microcontroller-based PC to extract maximum power from the SPV module. The measured parameters such as panel voltage, current, and power are obtained with and without MPPT systems and have been tested on the SPV Module at various load conditions, different temperatures and insolation labels. The comparative results with and without MPPT are shown; the results show that the tracking capability with MPPT improves as compared with without MPPT.

In this work, we demonstrate that partial shading of one solar cell in a state-of-the-art monocrystalline photovoltaic module with three bypass diodes results in hot cells with critical peak temperatures of 164 $^\circ$ C. We examine two solar modules in the IEC 61215-2 MQT 09 hot-spot endurance test, one with 367.3 W $_\text{P}$ featuring 72 full-cells and the other with 388.6 W $_\text{P}$ featuring 144 half-cells. For the solar module with 72 solar cells, we measure a maximum temperature of 164 $^\circ$ C, which results in a degradation of the encapsulation material and increases the risk of solar module failure. The high temperature results from the hot cell effect due to the power dissipation in the reverse-biased solar cell caused by partial shading. Our experiments show that the half-cell solar module is advantageous in terms of solar cell shading compared to the full-cell solar module. Although the half-cell solar module has a higher power output than the full-cell solar module, we measure a cooler peak temperature of 150 $^\circ$ C. However, under certain shading conditions, the half-cell solar module can exhibit similar temperatures as the full-cell solar module. Based on our experimental results, we develop an electrical and a thermal model to predict the temperature of novel high-power solar modules with solar cells from larger silicon wafer formats in case of partial cell shading. Our predictions consider the trends of further increasing solar cell and module efficiencies, larger silicon wafer formats, and larger solar modules. We simulate a maximum peak temperature of 176 $^\circ$ C at the solar module's surface, which significantly increases the risk of solar module failure. Our results show that new high-power solar modules employing solar cells that are made from larger silicon wafer formats need a new protection against overheating. Three bypass diodes per solar module are no longer sufficient.

Recycling solar panels has been a revolutionary procedure that has affected sustainability practices in the renewable energy industry in the past, present, and future. With silicon photovoltaics contending for market share to reduce solar power costs, perovskite photovoltaics is becoming more popular. However, there is currently no practical means to manage dangerous lead Pb waste, which could spell the end of this technology. We offer a material management method for perovskite solar modules that addresses the end of their useful life. The goal is to recycle valuable transparent conductors and toxic lead to save the environment and promote the economy using recycled materials. An action plan for removing poisonous lead and precious glass substrates from perovskites-based solar panels. Organic solvents, such as dimethylformamide (DMF), dissolve lead in the perovskite layer during delamination of encapsulated perovskite solar panels. To entirely remove lead from organic solvents, an adsorbent adsorbs ions, eluted into a clean solvent for broth enrichment, and the precipitated PbI2 is collected for recycling. In this case, we used carboxylic acid cation exchange resin as an absorber to recycle lead from used perovskite modules. To reuse the used perovskite solar cells, a procedure must first be developed to unbind the encased modules and expose them to the perovskite layer. This section examined the composition of a perovskite module formed of indium tin oxide (ITO) glass and encapsulated by an additional piece of glass. Although silicon solar panels contain a large number of valuable materials, such as silicon, glass, silver, aluminum, etc., they still lack the cost-effective recycling technology that would allow them to be recovered. Silicon is incredibly diverse, but its high-value applications, such as semiconductors, require the same stringent purity requirements. However, employing it as an anode material in lithium batteries with less severe purity standards appears viable.Furthermore, abandoned solar cells have been shown to include silicon anode impurities such as boron, phosphorus, and silver, which improve their stability. There are now two phases in PV recycling: dismantling and filtration. Although silicon PV panels vary greatly, they all share the same basic construction. The sandwich construction solar cells, comprised of aluminium, silicon, and silver, are joined to modules by copper wires soldered with lead and tin (Pb and Sn). The modules are then sandwiched between two EVA layers, creating a waterproof seal.Alternative processes, like pyrolysis and chemical treatments, are used to gently peel off glass and solar cells to recycle Si and Ag by removing or extracting EVA. EVA is commonly used to coat and preserve solar cells and PV panels. This encapsulation makes it more difficult to separate the glass cover and back sheet and recycle the solar cells.Morphology conversion must be considered throughout the upcycling process, which employs nano-metal catalysed hydrofluoric acid (HF) acid etching to recover porous Si/carbon anode materials after a brief purification step. Because of the properties of silicon, HF is always used to form silicon pores, which are not meant to last. As a result, HF can be replaced in purification and morphological modification, resulting in a more environmentally friendly and long-lasting recycling process. The silicon wafer can also be recycled in all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). This method states that after removing the perovskite and carbon, the metal oxide layers (TiO2, ZrO2) produced on the FTO can be reused to remanufacture enclosed carbon-based perovskite cells. In a solar simulator based on xenon lamps, the power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells and solar modules was measured using current-voltage (JV) measurement. Based on the study and comparison of solar PV production and the avoided burden approach due to recycling, it is possible to infer that recycling in the total life cycle evaluation of solar PV can result in a significantly higher impact reduction throughout the solar PV recycling process. Keywords Solar module recycling, Chemical recycling, End-of-life management, Upcycling, Circular economy, Refurbishment.

Study of a dust deposition mechanism dominated by electrostatic force on a solar photovoltaic module

The economic success in operating photovoltaic systems depends essentially on the possibility of their long-term operation and delivery of the expected energy yield. Twenty to twenty-five years are often presupposed. These are high demands. A precondition is the good quality and long-term stability of the employed products, in particular the PV modules, as well as all other components and materials, and the non-appearance of damages to these items during transport and handling. In addition, the PV systems must be professionally planned, properly implemented and professionally operated with appropriate maintenance measures. Not only the quality of the PV modules is important, but also the quality of planning and installation of the overall system that pose high risks for long-term protection of profitability. The influential factors for the financial risk are not limited to the technical and safety-relevant risks. The risk assessment of photovoltaic projects must include an evaluation of the location regarding on-site risks and evaluation of the logistical risks in connection with the installation of the system.

SCHOTT Solar, DE.E-mail: sinke@ecn.nl, Project website: www.ipcrystalclear.info.ABSTRACT: CrystalClear was an EU co-financed Integrated Project aimed at developing technology for wafer-based silicon solar modules at 1 € per watt-peak manufacturing costs and a strongly improved environmental profile. The project consortium has selected a number of technologies that potentially comply with these aims as well as research that serves as basis for further developments (beyond the project aims). These technologies have been demonstrated in the form of demonstrators, i.e. full-size modules featuring all innovations necessary to comply with the aims. The project has shown that wafer-based multicrystalline-silicon solar modules can be produced at 1 € per watt-peak at a world-record efficiency of 16% and an energy pay-back time of less than 2 years in Southern Europe.Keywords: back contact, c-Si, cost reduction, manufacturing and processing, module manufacturing, multicrystalline silicon, silicon solar cell, LCA, energy pay-back time.1 GENERAL PROJECT OVERVIEWCrystalClear [1-4] was a 5½-year Integrated Project carried out in the 6th Framework Program of the EU. It started in January 2004 and was finished in June 2009. The project was a joint effort of a consortium of 16 European companies, research institutes and university groups involved in wafer-based crystalline silicon PV technology.Companies: BP Solar (ES), Deutsche Cell (DE), Deutsche Solar (DE), Isofoton (ES), Photowatt (FR), REC (NO), REC Wafer Norway (NO), SCHOTT Solar (DE), SolarWorld Industries (DE).Universities: Utrecht (NL), Konstanz (DE), UPM-IES (ES);Research institutes: InESS-CNRS (FR), ECN (NL, project coordinator), FhG-ISE (DE), IMEC (BE).Within CrystalClear an average of over 50 researchers from 6 European countries have worked together.The project aims have been divided in three main blocks.1. Availability of innovative manufacturing technologies which allow solar modules to be produced at a cost of 1 €/watt-peak (which is a reduction by more than 50% compared to state-of-the-art at the start of the project). This objective is very ambitious, but essential to get world-class technology. Manufacturing cost reduction is essential to bring prices of modules and turn-key complete systems down.2. Improved environmental profile of solar modules by reduction of materials consumption, replacement of undesired materials and designing for recycling. This will strengthen the position of solar energy as a clean and sustainable alternative to conventional electricity generation.3. Enhanced applicability of modules by tailoring to customer needs and by improving product lifetime and reliability. Since solar modules will be used in very different situations (e.g. on buildings) flexibility of use is crucial. Assured quality is a prerequisite for large-scale, professional use.The CrystalClear project has tackled all aspects from the raw materials up to the completed solar module. Key activities concerned:• strongly reducing the consumption of expensive materials (especially silicon, but also others) as well as introducing the use of cheaper materials;• increasing the electricity output of solar modules;• developing highly automated, high-throughput, low-cost manufacturing processes;• screening materials, processes and products in relation to sustainability and suitability for large-scale use.Since many combinations of options for cell and module design, processing and materials potentially fulfill the project aims, a selection of 6 distinctly different overall technologies has been developed, underlining the many faces of wafer-based silicon PV and the variety of approaches found within the industry. The feasibility of these technologies to comply with the projects aims has been verified by detailed cost and environmental analyses. CrystalClear has chosen technologies which might be demonstrated as full-scale modules already at the end of the project as well as technologies which stillneed to be developed further after the project.The project has been organized in Subprojects (SPs), covering the parts of the value chain as well as integrating aspects (environmental analyses, cost calculations, etc.), see Figure 1. In the following, the final project results achieved are summarized per Subproject:

One of the current technologies widely used to extract the earth’s renewable energy is solar modules, which harness energy from the sun; however, their operating conditions and their energy storage capacities vary greatly under different weather conditions. The high-speed Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) presents a promising prospective solution for solar energy storage and utilization. Accurately modeling FESS can lead to its efficient design and control. In this paper, a fully integrated FESS, with comprehensive photovoltaic (PV) system, has been modeled to simulate the overall energy harvesting capabilities, power output, and efficiency. The solar module has been modeled using the one-diode solar cell model technique to predict the overall system efficiency and determine the most efficient time of day for switching between the FESS’s charging (morning time) and discharging mode (night time). To validate the developed model using experimental data, four 250 Wp Ankara Solar PV modules and a Balance of System (BOS) were installed. The solar irradiance, wind speed, cell temperature, solar module, FESS output voltage and current were logged during the system’s operation. The theoretical model predicted that the energy output for the test day was 4.80 kWh, while the experimental analysis showed that the solar modules produced 4.68 kWh, only 2.5% percentage difference. The theoretical and experimental power curves followed the same trends throughout the day, which assures that the model could accurately predict the daily energy output of the solar array. The efficiency of the solar module was determined to be 15.3%. The solar module simulation serves as a repeatable replication of the actual solar module source, which enables convenient, low-cost estimation of the solar module-FESS system under different environmental conditions. The developed solar module was integrated with a brushless DC motor and flywheel models to simulate the FESS response. Relative to the input solar energy input of 4.68 kWh, the daily energy stored in a flywheel was 3.51 kWh, giving the overall solar-module-FESS system an efficiency of 74.7%. After the experimental setup completion of FESS, the integrated solar module-FESS model will be tested for its overall power output and efficiency against the traditional solar module-battery-system.

The renewable energy sources are intermittent in nature with high availability-based uncertainties. These resources when integrated to the utility grid significantly hinder the grid power quality (PQ). This article deals with PQ issues arising in the topology including the grid connected renewable energy generating system, which is a combination of wind turbine (WT) driving the synchronous generator (SG) and solar photovoltaic (PV) array and control strategies to improve the same. The solar PV array is associated at the dc link eliminating the dc–dc converter stage via a common dc link. The variable revolutions per minute (RPM) operation is achieved by the back to back connected grid side VSC (GVSC) and the machine side voltage source converter (MVSC). The GVSC is controlled by using the nonlinear harmonic observer (NHO) control. It provides robust implementation at various perturbations faced practically, i.e., discontinuous jump of frequency, phase, and amplitude. The fundamental load current component is effectively extracted. The NHO control is deployed within the framework to allow the system to dynamically adapt to the changes in the operating environment while maintaining the PQ of the utility grid. A special attention is paid to the condition when the power generated by the solar PV array is zero (during night operation) and the GVSC acts in the distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) mode fulfilling the reactive power requirement. The regulation of MVSC is achieved by the vector control. Independent optimal power extraction techniques are featured for both wind and solar PV array. Test conditions are realized on the laboratory developed prototype and test results are acquired for PQ, loss of supply from solar PV array, effects of randomness of the wind speed, and solar insolation along with load alterations.

The thermal coefficient of a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is a value that is provided with its specification sheet and tells us precisely the drop in panel performance with rising temperature. In desert climates, the PV panel temperatures are known to reach above 70 degrees centigrade. Exploring effective methods of increasing energy transfer efficiency is the issue that attracts researchers nowadays, which also contributes to reducing the cost of using solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with storage batteries. Temperature handling of solar PV modules is one of the techniques that improve the performance of such systems by cooling the bottom surface of the PV panels. This study initially reviews the effective methods of cooling the solar modules to select a proper, cost-effective, and easy to implement one. An active fan-based cooling method is considered in this research to make ventilation underneath the solar module. A portion of the output power at a prespecified high level of battery state-of-charge (SOC) is used to feed the fans. The developed comparator circuit is used to control the power ON/OFF of the fans. A Matlab-based simulation is employed to demonstrate the power rate improvements and that consumed by the fans. The results of simulations show that the presented approach can achieve significant improvements in the efficiency of PV systems that have storage batteries. The proposed method is demonstrated and evaluated for a 1.62 kW PV system. It is found from a simultaneous practical experiment on two identical PV panels of 180 W over a full day that the energy with the cooling system was 823.4 Wh, while that without cooling was 676 Wh. The adopted approach can play a role in enhancing energy sustainability.

Although Egypt falls within the solar belt, solar energy use on the household level remains very sparse. This research examines the factors driving and hindering households’ willingness to shift from fossil fuels to solar energy. The study evaluates the socioeconomic determinants of households’ willingness to adopt photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, based on a random distribution of 301 questionnaires in Cairo and Giza – two of Egypt’s most densely populated governorates. Two models were used? a Logistic Model and a Structural Equations Model (SEM) that regresses the willingness to install PV panels on household characteristics. For a deeper analysis of how socioeconomic differences shape renewable energy adoption, we separated the SEM model into behavioural and economic characteristics to be able to identify whether willingness to adopt solar PV systems, (or the lack of), stem from either set of factors. Accordingly, these insights can inform policy and support the implementation of targeted actions in both directions. Behavioural factors include household heads’ willingness to take a credit facility to finance solar PV panels, household heads’ level of education, living in rural versus urban areas, household size, whether any of the household members needed medical attention owing to heat waves during past year, household heads’ age and gender. Economic variables include household heads’ monthly income, whether the household owns a farm, whether the household owns gas at home, access to internet connection at home, access to credit facility, the number of times on average the household was disconnected from electricity per week during the past year, and education reflecting the socioeconomic level of the household head. Behavioural variables that positively contribute to adopting solar panels are revealed to be willingness to take a credit facility, age, education and household members needing medical attention owing to heat waves during past year; behavioural variables that contribute negatively to solar panel adoption include gender of the household head (in favour of females) and the geographical dimension (in favour of rural areas). The economic model’s results reveal a positive relationship for the average monthly income of the household head, ownership of farmland, and the years of education of the household head. Households with access to internet at home is negatively associated with the willingness to install solar panels. Suggested policy implications include packages that target programs supporting low-income households. Keywords: PV Solar Panels, Behavioural & Socioeconomic determinants, Structural Equation Model, Logistic Regression Model

Both lifetime and efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) modules are negatively affected by high and/or strongly fluctuating temperatures. An approach to improve the thermal performance is to add a phase change material (PCM) to the layer composition of PV modules. In order to be able to determine design parameters of the PCM, e.g. layer thickness of the PCM, melting point or chemical composition, a mathematical 1D-model describing the transient temperature distribution across the module was developed. It considers all relevant heat transfer mechanisms – conduction, convection and radiation – as well as the melting-solidification processes of the PCM. The model is solved numerically by an iterative, implicit algorithm implemented in MATLAB. Input factors include geometrical parameters and material properties as well as time-dependent weather effects (irradiance, ambient temperature, wind speed and direction). To determine these factors, either locally measured data or values derived by empirical models from literature can be employed. The simulated temperature distribution was validated against measured temperatures with an average deviation of ±1.7 K and used as an input for a module lifetime model. The latter model showed that the integration of a PCM into the layer composition could increase the lifetime of a PV module by up to 10 y, yet at the cost of a lower energy generation which is reduced by about 12 % compared to PV modules without PCM.

The usage of the solar photovoltaic (SPV) module to meet the power demands, especially in residential and office buildings, is inevitable in forthcoming years. The objective of this study is to experimentally investigate the possibility of improving the performance of the standalone rooftop SPV module used in the residential and office buildings during peak solar irradiance and ambient temperature with active cooling of the rear surface alone by spraying water and the front surface alone by water overflowing over it and cooling of the rear and the front surfaces simultaneously. The underneath of the SPV module is attached with a tray with a length of 1580 mm, a width of 640 mm, and a depth of 100 mm. It is filled with 40-70 litres of water. Accouters are made for water overflowing from the tube over the front surface of the module and cooling of the rear surface by spraying water. The rear surface cooling, front surface cooling, and simultaneous cooling of both the surfaces reduce the average operating temperature of the module by 15.52°C (maximum 18.6°C), 24.29°C (maximum 28.7°C), and 28.52°C (maximum 34.7°C), respectively. This temperature reduction leads to the increase in the power output of the 150 W module by 10.70 W, 18.48 W, and 20.56 W and percentage increase in efficiency by 8.778%, 15.278%, and 16.895% for rear, front, and simultaneous cooling of surfaces, respectively. The net power output of the module with the front surface cooling by overflowing (0.9 litre/min) water is higher, i.e., 15.88 W/150 W, and produces installation capacity of 0.4234 watt-hour (Wh) of more energy per watt during the test period 10 AM to 2 PM in a day. The recommended cooling methods eliminate the need for freshwater and separate arrangements to dissipate the heat carried by the circulated water and reduced the power required and quantity of water circulated. They also reduced the heat loads of the room by the shadow effect and by maintaining the tray water above the roof.

IIIc-3 - Installation Guidelines: Electrical