Mechanical and economic analysis of conventional aluminum photovoltaic module frames, frames with side holes, and open-source downward-fastened frames for non-traditional racking

Abstract

Using bolts through the back of a solar photovoltaic (PV) module frames to attach them to racking is time consuming and awkward, so commercial PV installations use clamping technologies on the front. Conventional and proprietary clamps are costly and demand access to supply chains for uncommon mechanical components that limits deployment velocity. To overcome these challenges, this study presents new open-source downward-fastened and side-fastened aluminum (Al) framing designs, which are easy to install and compatible with metal and wood racks. The proposed parametric open source designs are analyzed through finite element methods (FEM) simulations and economic analysis is performed to compare to conventional PV frame at both the module and system levels. The FEM results showed all the frames have acceptable mechanical reliability and stability to pass IEC 61215 standards. The results show the new frame (with bottom width of 29 mm and thickness of 1.5 mm) have about a 2% land use efficiency penalty, but have better mechanical stability (lower stress and deflections), are easier to install and have reduced material economic costs (2%) compared to conventional frames. The results are promising for the use of the new PV frame designs for distributed manufacturing targeted at specific applications.

Imaging methods of detecting defects in photovoltaic solar cells and modules: a survey

“…Under the influence of incident light, the photocurrent is generated locally and then a bitmap is created [40]. Tests using it are best carried out at room temperature [48], isolating the system from external sources of radiation [54,55].…”

“…The wavelengths of excitation light are in the range of 400-1200 nm [29], [36,40,48,[54][55][56][57][58][59]. It allows the examination of monocrystalline and polycrystalline cells, perovskites, or silicon heterojunctions [55], [56,58,59].…”

“…The following defects and inhomogeneities can be measured using the LBIC method: -recombination centres [40], -interconnection failures [40], -grain boundaries [58], -inappropriate shunts [58], -cell cracks [54,57],…”

Wood and Cable-Based Variable Tilt Stilt-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Racking System

“…FEA was performed utilizing Abaqus/CAE 2022 on a computer equipped with an 8 th generation Core i7 CPU and 16GB of RAM. The PV module FEA model similar to [63] is considered, simulating a standard configuration, encompassed a PV aluminum frame, PV laminate (consisting of glass, solar cells, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), and backsheet), and rubber components. The simulation conducted in Abaqus resembles the boundary conditions of three designs discussed in Section 2.4.…”

Open-source Photovoltaic - Electrical Vehicle Carport Designs

“…al. frame design shown in in Figure4a, or modules can be installed from the side if they adopt the second Sadat et al frame design[65] as shown in Figure4b.…”