Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2013

February 26–27, 2013

The Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop was held in Golden, Colorado, on Feb. 26–27, 2013. The objective was to share information to improve PV module reliability because such improvements reduce the cost of solar electricity and give investors confidence in the technology. NREL led the workshop, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Program (Solar Program).

The following documents are available. In addition, a detailed agenda is available.

The presentations are grouped by topic and session:

Overview Presentations

View discussion notes for this session.

Thermal and Mechanical Fatigue

View discussion notes for this session.

Diodes, Shading, and Reverse Bias

View discussion notes for this session.

Humidity, Temperature, and Voltage

View discussion notes for this session.

UV, Temperature, and Humidity

  • Introduction, David Miller, NREL and Michael Koehl, Fraunhofer ISE
  • Light Sources for Reproducing the Effects of Sunlight in the Natural Weathering of PV Materials, Components and Modules, David Burns, 3M and Kurt Scott, Atlas
  • Accelerated UV Aging and Correlation with Outdoor Exposure of EVA Based PV Encapsulants, Charlie Reid, Jayesh Bokria and Joseph Woods, STR

View discussion notes for this session.

View summary discussion notes for all sessions.

Poster Session: Field Experience of Crystalline Si and Thin-Film Modules

Poster Session: Thermal and Mechanical Fatigue, Other Accelerated Stress Tests, and Combinations of Accelerated Stress Tests

Poster Session: Diodes, Shading and Reverse Bias, and PV Standards

Poster Session: Humidity, Temperature, and Voltage

Poster Session: UV, Temperature and Humidity, and Testing of PV Materials