Degradation analysis of a CPV module after six years on-Sun

Muller, Matthew; Jordan, Dirk; Kurtz, Sarah

doi:10.1063/1.4931504

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The qualification standard IEC 62108 so far gives good indication that systems perform well in the field if they have received the certification. 8 Solar Systems, 255 Soitec, 12,18,256 Semprius, 218 Suncore, 10 and ISFOC from the plants in Puertollano 8 and Daido Steel 67 have shown performance data from 2 to 8 yr with no degradation observed. FIG.…”

Section: E Long Term Stability-durabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Challenges in the design of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules to achieve highest efficiencies

Wiesenfarth

Antón

Bett

2018

Applied Physics Reviews

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Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) is a special high efficiency system technology in the world of PV-technologies. The idea of CPV is to use optical light concentrators to increase the incident power on solar cells. The solar cell area is comparatively tiny, thus saving expensive semiconductor materials and allowing the use of more sophisticated and more costly multi-junction solar cells. The highest CPV module efficiency achieved is 38.9%. This CPV module uses four-junction III-Vbased solar cells. Moreover, mini-modules have already achieved an efficiency of 43.4%. The interaction between optics, cells, and layout of the module and tracker determines the overall field performance. Today, some utility scale CPV plants are installed. The CPV technology allows for many technical solutions for system designs and for optimizing performance while maintaining the economics. This paper will review the achievements and discuss the challenges for the CPV module technology and its components. We discuss the different components and the most important effects regarding the module design. Furthermore, we present the module designs that have shown the highest efficiencies.

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Section: E Long Term Stability-durabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Challenges in the design of concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules to achieve highest efficiencies

Wiesenfarth

Antón

Bett

2018

Applied Physics Reviews

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“…• Multi-junction solar cells have been used for many years in terrestrial and space applications (satellites) demonstrating reliable performance at high concentration with very low degradation rates and mean time to failure higher than 30 years. [45][46][47] • The optical layer is made of optical silicone or solar-grade PMMA, materials that have also been qualified for photovoltaic applications, enduring extended exposure to UV radiation, humidity, and high ambient temperature. [48][49][50] The lens clusters are manufactured by injection molding, a low-cost industrial process with high throughput and good repeatability.…”

Section: Roadmap To Industrial Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrialization of hybrid Si/III–V and translucent planar micro‐tracking modules

Nardin

Domínguez

Aguilar

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

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A tracking-integrated hybrid micro-concentrator module is presented that can harvest direct, diffuse, and albedo irradiance components. It uses biconvex 180× lens arrays to concentrate direct light on high-efficiency III-V solar cells (29% module efficiency has been demonstrated outdoors on direct sunlight at Concentrator Standard Test Conditions) and a planar micro-tracking mechanism to allow installation in static frames. Two architectures have been developed to harvest diffuse irradiance: (1) a hybrid architecture where the backplane is covered with monofacial or bifacial Si cells; (2) a translucent architecture where diffuse light is transmitted through the module for dual-land-use applications, such as agrivoltaics. Simulations show that the hybrid architecture provides an excess of yearly energy production compared to 20% efficiency flat-plate photovoltaic (PV) module in all locations studied, including those with a low direct normal irradiance (DNI) content, and up to 38% advantage in high-DNI locations. The use of bifacial heterojunction and interdigitated back-contact Si cells has been explored for the glass-Si-glass backplane laminate to harvest albedo light. Bifacial gains modeled can boost energy yield by about 30% in the best scenario. We discuss the perspectives of the translucent modules for dual-land-use applications as well, such as integration in greenhouses for agriculture-integrated PV (agrivoltaics). This architecture can provide up to 47% excess electricity compared to a spaced reference Si array that transmits the same amount of solar

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