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
- Welcome, Kevin Lynn, DOE
- Linkage to Previous QA Task Force Workshops (introduce NWIP), Sarah Kurtz, NREL
- Accelerated Stress Testing, Qualification Testing, HAST, Field Experience – What Do They All Mean? John Wohlgemuth, NREL
- Field Experience: Failure and Degradation Modes of PV Modules in a Hot Dry Climate: Results After 11 to 26 Years of Field Exposure, Govindasamy Tamizhmani, ASU
- Delamination Failures in Long-Term Field-Aged PV Modules, Tsuyoshi Shioda, Mitsui Chemical
View discussion notes for this session.
Thermal and Mechanical Fatigue
- Introduction, Chris Flueckiger, UL
- Thermal Cycling Combined with Dynamic Mechanical Load: Preliminary Report, Tadanori Tanahashi, ESPEC Corp.
- Accelerating Fatigue Testing for Cu Ribbon Interconnects, Nick Bosco, NREL
View discussion notes for this session.
Diodes, Shading, and Reverse Bias
- Introduction, Paul Robusto, Intertek
- ESD Testing of Diodes, Kent Whitfield, Solaria
- Environmental Testing of Diodes, Yasunori Uchida, JET
View discussion notes for this session.
Humidity, Temperature, and Voltage
- Introduction, John Wohlgemuth, NREL
- Understanding the Temperature and Humidity Environment Inside a PV Module, Michael Kempe, NREL
- PID Failure of c-Si and Thin-Film Modules and Possible Correlation with Leakage Currents, Peter Lechner, ZSW
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
- A System Degradation Study of 445 Systems using Year-over-Year Performance Index Analysis, Mike Anderson, Zoe Defreitas and Charlie Hasselbrink of SunPower Corporation
- Web-Based Methodology for Photovoltaic Failure Reporting, Reliability Analysis and Corrective Action in a Completely Secured Platform, R. Sundaramoorthy, J.R. Lloyd, David Metacarpa, and Pradeep Haldar of PVMC, CNSE
- Accuracy and Uncertainty of PV Module Temperature in Outdoor Monitoring, Marko Jankovec and Marko Topic of University of Ljubljana
- STC Laboratory Testing: Necessary but not Sufficient, M. Propst and N.A. Olsson of Pearllaboratories
- The Impact of Module Reliability on PV Plant Lifetimes Exceeding 25 Years, Larry McClung of SAIC
- An Unanticipated System Vulnerability: Rodent Attack, Robert Uselton of Lennox Industries
- Salvage Values Determines Reliability of Used Photovoltaics, Joseph McCabe of Energy Ideas
- Compilation of PV Failure Modes and Mechanisms, Types of Tests for Reliability Analysis Reported in the Literature for Thin Film Reliability Studies, R. Sundaramoorthy, J.R. Lloyd, David Metacarpa and Pradeep Haldar of PVMC, CNSE
- Understanding Differences in Induced Stresses to Improve Variation in Light Soak Response, Jim Sorensen of First Solar
- Effect of Metastabilities on the Dynamic Behavior of CIGS PV Modules, David Pic, Bertrand Bertrand, Veronica Bermudez, Ludovic Parissi and Philippe Calzi of Nexcis
- Shade Tolerant Design of Thin Film Modules, Sourabh Dongaonkar and Muhammad A. Alam of Purdue University
- Preliminary Analysis of Modules Deployed at PV-USA for 18-24 Years, Alex Pineda and Jenya Meydbray of CleanPath, PVUSA and PV Evolutions
- Impact and Detection of Pyranometer Failure on PV Performance, D.C. Jordan and B. Sekulic of NREL
- Manufacturing Metrology for c-Si Module Reliability/Durability, Marianne P. Rogers, Kristopher O. Davis, Neelkanth Dhere, Ashwani Kaul, R. Paul Brooker and Hubert Seigneur of Florida Solar Energy Center
- Development of a Visual Inspection Checklist for Evaluation of Fielded PV Module Condition, C.E. Packard, J.H. Wohlgemuth and S.R. Kurtz of NREL
- Highly Reliable Photovoltaic Solar Topology, Timothy Johnson of TenKsolar
- Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the US (SERIIUS), Lawrence Kazmerski of NREL
- Abengoa Solar Visual Inspection Tool, Alvaro Delgado, Kristin Kiriluk, Pedro Banda, Jose and Fernando Celaya of Abengoa Solar
Poster Session: Thermal and Mechanical Fatigue, Other Accelerated Stress Tests, and Combinations of Accelerated Stress Tests
- Characterization of Dynamic Loads on Solar Modules with Respect to Fracture of Solar Cells, Sascha Dietrich, Matthias Pander, Martin Sander and Matthias Ebert of Fraunhofer CSP
- Statistical and Domain Analytics Applied to PV Module Lifetime and Degradation Science, Laura Bruckman, Nicholas Wheeler, Junheng Ma, Ethan Wang, Carl Wang, Ivan Chou, Jiayang, and Roger French of Case Western Reserve University
- Round Robin results For Hail Grain Characterization, Thomas Friessen of SUPSI
- Hail Impact Testing on Crystalline Silicon Modules with Flexible Packaging, Mike Brown, Mike W. Rowell, Steve J. Coughlin, and Duncan W. Harwood of Westpak and D2 Solar
- Development of a Rating System for a Comparative Accelerated Test Standard, Sarah Kurtz of NREL
- Compressive Shear Test to Accurately Measure Adhesion of PV Encapsulants, F. Galliano, V. Chapuis, C. Schlumpf, C. Ballif and L.E. Perret-Aebi of Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
- A Multi-Perspective Approach to PV Module Reliability and Degradation, Alessandra Colli and John P. Looney of Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Standardized Grime for Photovoltaic Soiling Studies, Patrick D. Burton, Bruce H. King and Benjamin Yang of Sandia National Laboratories
- Experimental Testing of PV Modules under Inhomogeneous Snow Loads, Florian Real, Nicolas Bogdanski, Gerhard Mathiak, Sebastian Raubach, Christopher Schloth , Werner Herrmann, and Bodo Wangenheim, of TUV Rheinland
- Quantum Efficiency Measurement Artifacts of Solar Cell Modules, Aaron Korostyshevsky, Anna Fox, Eric Straily, Orri Jonsson, and Halden Field of PV Measurements Inc.
- Failure Rates from Certification Testing to UL and IEC Standards for Flat Plate Modules, Larry Pratt, Martin Plass, Michael Yamasaki, and Nicholas Riedel of CFV Solar Test Lab
- High-Efficiency GaAs Thin-Film Solar Cell Reliability, Erhong Li and Prasad Chaparala of Alta Devices Inc.
- Fraunhofer PVDI Program- Comparison of Mechanical Stress Tests, David Meakin of Fraunhofer CSE
- PV Module Intraconnect Thermomechanical Durability Damage Prediction Model, R. Gaston, N. Ramesh, J. Akman, A. Dasgupta, C. Choi, S. Mukherjee, and D. Das of Dow Chemical and U. Maryland
Poster Session: Diodes, Shading and Reverse Bias, and PV Standards
- The Thermal Reliability Study of Bypass Diodes in PV Modules, Z. Zhang, J. Wohlgemuth and S. Kurtz of NREL
- High Temperature Reverse By-pass Diodes Bias and Failure, Jean Posbic and Eugene Rhee of MEMC
- PV Standards: What New Things Does the IEC Have for you? Howard Barikmo and George Kelly of Sunset Technology
- Recent Reports from the Solar America Board for Codes and Standards, Larry Sherwood of Solar ABCs
- IEC TC82 Description–What is a TAG and How Does one Use it? Alex Mikonowicz of PowerMark
- Infrared Thermography Working Group at the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium, Scott McWilliams of PVMC
- Connector Issues in Reliability, Juris Kalejs, Jeff Gadomski, and Zach Nobel, of American Capital
- Summary of 3rd International PV Module Quality Assurance Forum, Hiroko Saito and Masaaki Yamamichi of PVTEC and AIST
Poster Session: Humidity, Temperature, and Voltage
- Effect of Humidity and Temperature on the Potential Induced Degradation, Stephan Hoffmann and Michael Koehl of Fraunhofer ISE
- The Degradation Study of the Peel Strength of Mini-modules under Damp Heat Conditions, Dan Wu, Jiang Zhu, Thomas Betts, and Ralph Gottschalg of CREST Loughborough University
- Encapsulant-Based Solution to Potential Induced Degradation of PV Modules, Kumar Nanjundiah and Nichole Nickel of Dow Chemical
- Study on PID Resistance of HIT PV Modules, Tasuku Ishiguro, Hiroshi Kanno, Mikio Taguchi, and Shingo Okamoto of Sanyo Electric
- Experience on PID Testing of PV Modules in 2012, Sascha Dietrich, Jens Froebel, Matthias Ebert and Joerg Bagdahn of Fraunhofer CSP
- The Use of Humidity Sensors to Develop BIPV Packaging Solutions, Rodney Rice of Tata Steel
- The Acceleration of Degradation by HAST and Air-HAST in c-Si PV Modules, Soh Suzuki, Tadanori Tanahashi, Takuya Doi and Atsushi Masuda of ESPEC and AIST
- Sensitivities of I-V Parameters in c-Si PV Modules to Hygrothermal Stress, Soh Suzuki, Eiichiro, Takuya Doi, Atsushi Masuda and Tadanori Tanahashi of ESPEC and AIST
- Initial Round Robin Results of the IEC 62804 (draft) System Voltage Durability Qualification Test for Crystalline Silicon Modules, Peter Hacke and Kent Terwilliger of NREL; Simon Koch, Thomas Weber and Julianne Berghold of PI-Berlin;, Stephan Hoffmann, Holger Ambrosi and Michael Koehl of Fraunhofer ISE; Sascha Dietrich and Matthias Ebert of Fraunhofer CSP; and Gerhard Mathiak of TUV Rheinland
- PID Elimination in Crystalline Silicon Modules, Carlo A. Kosik Williams of Corning
- Breakthrough Time and Mechanical Properties of Edge Sealing in Different Environmental Conditions, A. Bonucci, J. Gigli, P., Gallina and A. Hayden of SAES Getters
- Potential Induced Degradation (PID) Tests for Commercially Available PV Modules, Takuya Doi, Atsushi Masuda and Michio Kondo of AIST, Kohji Masuda, Hiroshi Kato, Yasunori Uchida, and Katsuaki Shibata of JET, Shinji Kawai, Yutaka Fukumoto and Fujio Tamai of Industrial Technology Center of Saga
- High PID Resistance Cross-Linked Encapsulant Based on Polyolefin, Hirofumi Zenkoh, Jun Tokuhiro, Takanobu and Masaaki Odoi of Mitsui Chemicals
- PID-Free c-Si PV Module Using Novel Chemically-Tempered Glass, Mika Kambe of Asahi Glass and Kojiro and Michio Kondo of AIST
Poster Session: UV, Temperature and Humidity, and Testing of PV Materials
- Literature Review of the Effects of UV Exposure on PV Modules, Lawrence Dunn, Michael Gostein and Bill Stueve of Atonometrics
- UV Conditioning of PV Modules: A Practical and Cost Effective Way to Meet the IEC Requirements, Sean Fowler of Q-Lab Corporation
- Accelerated Laboratory Testing Using Simultaneous UV Radiation, Temperature and Moisture for PV Encapsulants, Frontsheets and Backsheets, Xiaohong Gu, Yongyan Pang, Chiao-Chi Lin, Kar-Tean Tan, and Joannie W. Chin of NIST
- Test Procedure for UV Weathering Durability of Backsheet, Kusato Hirota, Michiko Tanaka, Takao Amioka, and Miki Terada of Toray industries
- Weathering Performance of PV Backsheets, Amy Lefebvre, Gregory O'Brien, Thomas Fine, and Anthony Bonnet of Arkema
- High-Performance Plastic Front Sheet and Back Sheet for Long-Term Reliability of PV Modules, Jian Zhou, Scott Davis, Shreyas Chakravarti, and Michael Davis of SABIC and James Pickett of General Electric
- A Comparison of Key PV Backsheet and Module Properties from Fielded Module Exposures and Accelerated Test Conditions, W. Gambogi, O. Fu, Y. Heta, K. Hashimoto, J. Kopchick, T. Felder, S. MacMaster, A. Bradley, B. Hamzavytehrany, V. Felix, T. Aoki, and T.J. Trout of DuPont and T. Sample of JRC
- Demonstrating Reliability of 3M Ultra-Barrier Film for Flexible PV Applications, Alan Nachitigal of 3M
- Flexible Glass for Hermetic Barrier Applications, M. Xun, S. Garner, J. Webb, and K. Gopalakrishnan of Corning
- Reducing c-Si Module Operating temperature via PV Packaging Components, Jim Bratcher of Honeywell
- Reliability of Electrically Conductive Adhesives for Silicon Solar Cell Interconnects, Michael W. Rowell and Duncan W. Harwood of D2 Solar
- Comparing Accelerated Testing and Outdoor Exposure, Michael Köhl of Fraunhofer ISE