Modules and reliability
Overview
The activities of the Module & Reliability group focus primarily on: 1) understanding/mitigation/modelling of failure modes in solar modules 2) design of innovative module concepts/architectures (such as lightweight and bifacial PV modules) 3) design of solar modules for BIPV/VIPV (Building & Vehicle Integrated PV) and portable applications 4) development of innovative testing and characterization protocols for solar cells/modules and BIPV products The lab is well equipped with tools for module manufacturing, advanced characterization techniques for polymers and equipment for performance/life-time testing and monitoring of modules.
Examples of soft failures (left), and of a hards failure (right) in modules fielded for over 35 years. [see Virtuani et al. . 35 years of photovoltaics: Analysis of the TISO‐10‐kW solar plant, lessons learnt in safety and performance – Part 1, Prog Photovolt Res Appl. 2019;27:328–339, and Annigoni et al. idem – Part 2, Prog Photovolt Res Appl. 2019].
Development of lightweight solor PV modules comes with a wide range of challenge to guarantee the integrity of the modules after thermal cycling and damp-heat tests.
power distribution for the full set of 288 modules belonging to the Tiso-10 PV plant measured in (a) 2010 after 28 years of operation, and in (b) 2017 after 35 years.