Photovoltaic Module Reliability
John H. Wohlgemuth
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Photovoltaic Module Reliability
John H. Wohlgemuth
About This Book
Provides practical guidance on the latest quality assurance and accelerated stress test methods for improved long-term performance prediction of PV modules
This book has been written from a historical perspective to guide readers through how the PV industry learned what the failure and degradation modes of PV modules were, how accelerated tests were developed to cause the same failures and degradations in the laboratory, and then how these tests were used as tools to guide the design and fabrication of reliable and long-life modules.
Photovoltaic Module Reliability starts with a brief history of photovoltaics, discussing some of the different types of materials and devices used for commercial solar cells. It then goes on to offer chapters on: Module Failure Modes; Development of Accelerated Stress Tests; Qualification Testing; and Failure Analysis Tools. Next, it examines the use of quality management systems to manufacture PV modules. Subsequent chapters cover the PVQAT Effort; the Conformity Assessment and IECRE; and Predicting PV Module Service Life. The book finishes with a look at what the future holds for PV.
- A comprehensive treatment of current photovoltaic (PV) technology reliability and necessary improvement to become a significant part of the electric utility supply system
- Well documented with experimental and practical cases throughout, enhancing relevance to both scientific community and industry
- Timely contribution to the harmonization of methodological aspects of PV reliability evaluation with test procedures implemented to certify PV module quality
- Written by a leading international authority in PV module reliability
Photovoltaic Module Reliability is an excellent book for anyone interested in PV module reliability, including those working directly on PV module and system reliability and preparing to purchase modules for deployment.
Frequently asked questions
Information
1
Introduction
1.1 Brief History of PVs
- Edmond Becquerel discovered the PV effect in 1839. So, PV is certainly not a new technology [5].
- Albert Einstein published a paper explaining how the PV effect worked in 1905. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of how the PV effect works [6]. PV was a lot less controversial than relativity at that time.
- In 1954, a group at Bell Laboratories developed the first practical silicon solar cells [7].
- The Bell Laboratories development was just in time for PV to provide power for all of the US satellites designed to perform in space for more than a few days. Vanguard 1 launched in March 1958, was powered by PV and continued to transmit data back to earth for six years [8], while purely batteryâpowered satellites typically only provided data for a few months. Most US satellites continue to use PV as their primary energy supply. This means that your satellite weather forecasts, longâdistance communications and TV signals have always been powered by PV. Most of us have been taking advantage of PV in this way for decades.
- In the 1970s, a terrestrial PV business was developed by two small companies (Solarex Corporation and Sensor Technology) to provide power systems for remote applications. In these remote site applications, PV was cost effective even at a $20â$40/Wp cost for modules. These remote applications included telecommunications, weather stations, navigational aids, water pumping, fence charging, remote vacation homes and cathodic protection.
- Partially because of the US energy crises of 1973 and 1979, the US government began an expanded effort in renewable energies. The FlatâPlate Solar Array (FSA) Project, funded by the US Government and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was formed in 1975 to develop the flatâplate module and array technologies needed to attain widespread terrestrial use of PV [9]. While many important developments came out of this effort, three had particularly important impacts on future PV efforts. The first was the initial efforts to evaluate the potential for PV technologies to undergo significant cost reductions and, therefore, eventually compete with traditional sources of electricity. The second was the proof that PV modules could be assembled into largerâscale systems that could then power realâworld applications. The third was the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Block Buy Program to be discussed in more detail in Chapter 4. This effort led to the use of acceleration stress tests and the establishment of qualification tests for PV modules. This went a long way toward improving the reliability and increasing the service life of PV modules.
- The election of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency in 1980 resulted in a huge setback for PV. The national budget for PV was slashed drastically and PV research in the US dropped to a small fraction of what it had been under Jimmy Carter's Administration. As a result, PV progress slowed appreciably and the center of PV development shifted away from the US to Europe and Asia.
- In 1994, The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI, formerly called MITI) launched a subsidy program for residential PV systems with an overall goal of installing 4.82 GW of PV by 2010. The program was launched with a subsidy of 50% of the cost of the PV system. The program attracted homeowners not only because of the subsidy, but also because the residential electricity rates in Japan were about 24 Yen/kWh equivalent to about $0.24/kWh at that time, among the h...