Impact of interconnection failure on photovoltaic module performance

Abstract

Understanding the impact of failures on performance is necessary for any technology's development. There are many interconnection schemes that have emerged as the field solar photovoltaics has matured, but the most commonly used and well‐understood scheme is ribbon tabbing. In the field, the contacts between the ribbons and the cell metallization can fail via corrosion or solder joint failure. Solder joint failures are simulated by systematically cutting the interconnections of four‐busbar, multicrystalline silicon modules. It is shown that not only do the failures themselves contribute to performance loss but the location of the failed interconnection with respect to those near it is also important. Different breakage schemes and their impact on performance are compared. Different methods of calculating series resistance are evaluated. Multi‐irradiance performance is used to show how energy yield models can inaccurately predict module output for modules with high series resistance.

A Survey on Anomalies and Faults that may Impact the Reliability of Renewable-based Power Systems

“…[22], [23] Dust Accumulation Environmental pollution [24], [25] Leaves fall, bird droppings Environmental pollution [25] Hot Spot Mechanical and optical degradation of encapsulation [33] Glass breakage Bad installation [27] Welding Leaching of silver or copper, solder joint fatigue, bad welding [28] Frame issues Snowing [27] Microcracks Multiple (transportation, incorrect installation, vibrations, excessive loads, environmental stress, improper cleaning, etc.) [34] Busbar failure Incorrect packaging, installation, hail, and/or stone throwing [35] Module degradation Multiple [36] Discoloration Multiple [37] Delamination Multiple [38] Cell breakage Multiple (production, transport, installation, vibrations, environmental stress, improper cleaning, and maintenance, etc.) [27], [39] Connection System…”

Isotropic conductive paste for bioresorbable electronics

“…In contrast, although various composites have been suggested for bioresorbable interconnection materials [ [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] ], such materials are still difficult to utilize owing to their many limitations, including low electrical conductivity, poor processability, and mechanical instability. For example, when conductive polymers (CPs), such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and polypyrrole (PPy), are fused with bioresorbable polymers [ [21] , [22] , [23] ], they yield poor conductivities (<0.1 ​kS/m), which undermines the device electrical power and efficiency [ 24 , 25 ]. Furthermore, the resorption and biocompatibility of CPs are not well established [ 26 ].…”

“…However, because these materials are designed for constructing planar electrical pathways, they have limitations to make physical binding and vertical interconnection. Consequently, owndrawbacks of prior bioresorbable interconnection materials degrade the performance of fully bioresorbable devices or make unstable connection sites [ 24 ]. Therefore, solder or silver paste, which is not a resorbablematerial, is still used to prepare bioresorbable electronic device prototypes [ 30 , [36] , [37] , [38] ].…”

Generalized quantitative electroluminescence method for the performance evaluation of defective and unevenly degraded crystalline silicon photovoltaic module

“…Process‐induced shunts, recombination, and cracks within a cell also affect I 02 , n 2 , R sh parameters 6,7 . Cracks, finger breakages, busbar interconnect failure, and corrosion increase cell and overall module R s 8,9 . Boron‐oxygen defects formation in a bulk region, aging of cell material affects I 01 , n 1 parameters 10,11 .…”

“…Rajput et al have proposed the method that extracts cell I 01 and R s from the EL images and estimates module output using SDM 24 . Colvin et al, 8 Kropp et al, 25 and Kikelj et al 26 have reported methods to estimate the performance of a module suffering from R s ‐related defects such as cracks, busbar interconnects failure, corrosion, finger breakages. However, these methods have been developed considering only R s ‐defects without the coexistence of other types of defects and degradation.…”