Metastable changes to the temperature coefficients of thin-film photovoltaic modules

Deceglie, Michael G.; Silverman, Timothy J.; Marion, Bill; Kurtz, Sarah

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2014.6924926

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…40 indicate only slight differences for various shunt magnitudes because the Joule heating of the large-area shunt creates a small temperature increase in the cell under normal operating conditions. In this case, the decreases in Voc are essentially due to the Voc temperature coefficient, which we calculate to be -0.31%/K; that value is close to measured values near -0.30 to -0.32%/K [69]. In summary, we probed the structure, chemistry, and electronic properties of sites where thermalrunaway breakdown occurs under reverse-bias conditions in thin-film PV devices.…”

Section: Theory and Modeling Of Shading-induced Breakdownsupporting

confidence: 82%

From Modules to Atoms: Techniques and Characterization for Identifying and Understanding Device-Level Photovoltaic Degradation Mechanisms

Johnston

Moutinho

Jiang

et al. 2019

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Section: Theory and Modeling Of Shading-induced Breakdownsupporting

confidence: 82%

From Modules to Atoms: Techniques and Characterization for Identifying and Understanding Device-Level Photovoltaic Degradation Mechanisms

Johnston

Moutinho

Jiang

et al. 2019

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“…Exactly for this reason, a common workaround is the determination of the true junction temperature of a cell/ module from its momentary V OC and back-calculation via given label V OC and temperature coefficient b. However, this approach is only limitedly applicable for metastable modules, as their temperature coefficients and the V OC have been found to alter with the metastabilities, as well [33][34][35]. Thus, there is no alternative to account for fast temperature fluctuations in thin film solar cells, which come with outdoor operation and monitoring.…”

Section: Temperature-related Effects On Outdoor Module Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative preconditioning by utilization of a thin film module's dark diode fingerprint

Friedel,

Winter

2024

EPJ Photovolt.

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Although the continuously advancing silicon wafer-based modules dominate the commercial PV landscape, thin film technologies have not lost any of their attraction, especially in areas where their advantages count, like light weight, flexibility, and easy manufacturing. This has been the case for chalcogenides in the past and it will be for coming perovskite-based materials, whether as stand-alone, in multi- or heterojunction devices. Unfortunately, many thin film technologies suffer from metastability, i.e., their physical properties change temporarily with storage, transport or operating conditions, on time scales from hours to months. For this reason, preconditioning is crucial, before reliably evaluating such a module's performance. Presently, the respective preconditioning standards are exclusively focused on illumination-induced stabilization of the module's power at the maximum power point (PMPP). However, using PMPP as the only marker might not be the wisest choice. First, the PMPP is basically a black box, i.e., a module may show the same temporary power value at times, while being in very different condition if one looked closely on its device physics then. This may lead to false assumptions about the module's quality. Second, aiming for the highest stable PMPP of a module might not always be the desired goal, e.g., in warranty cases where the actual field performance of a module is in question and not how it would behave in perfect state after standard preconditioning. To overcome these limitations of present preconditioning standards, an alternative additional approach is required. In this report, we give a brief view on the inevitable shortcomings of present methods for thin film modules and demonstrate how the dark current characteristic of a thin film module can be used like a fingerprint instead, representing its device physics that define its actual state. Whereas in PV research, dark IV curves are commonly analyzed in detail for hints on charge transport mechanisms, interface properties or semiconductor degradation in the device, such effort would be inconvenient and unnecessary for fast-track commercial module testing. Here, we suggest focusing merely on the effective device properties, which are reflected quantitatively in the diode-parameters. The goal is to feed a recorded module dark current curve into an automated mathematical procedure, which fits the data to the double-diode model, enabling the extraction of the diode parameter-set. With this as a marker, instead of using solely PMPP during preconditioning treatments, it is much more likely that the desired previous physical state of a module is really reinstated. Additionally, the described dark current approach is conveniently independent of a light source's properties and insensitive to module soiling. The results presented here, give a first impression on the potential that such a method could have, showcasing effects of dark storage degradation and their recovery by illumination or bias-induced preconditioning on the dark current characteristics of individual CdTe and CIGS commercial PV-modules of different generations and manufacturers.

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“…The influence of temperature of PV cell on different mechanisms fill factor (FF), open-circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Jsc) are well known. The fill factor temperature sensitivity can be possibly due to technical issue such as contact resistance [23]. Electrical performance of a typical PV module is 18-24% of the incident solar radiation, dependent on climate condition and type of solar cell used in the module.…”

Section: Fig 1: Dimension Description Of Seh Based Lcpv System Used In This Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature regulation of concentrating photovoltaic window using argon gas and polymer dispersed liquid crystal films

et al. 2021

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Low concentrating photovoltaic (LCPV) system has been studied extensively, which showed excellent potential for the building integration application. However, such a system suffers from higher operating temperatures due to the concentrated light exposed into the solar cell. In this work, two different methods have been used to regulate the operating temperature of the solar cell without the interference of any other external mechanism. Two concepts were used to study the operating temperature of the solar cells are: i) use of Argon gas within the concentrator element, ii) incorporation of polymer-dispersed liquid crystal films (PDLC) on top of the module. In both cases, the power was improved by 37 mW to 47 mW when temperature was reduced by 10°C and 4°C for the Argon gasfilled module and PDLC integrated module, respectively. In addition, the temperature effect of the PDLC integrated module showed a unique nature of reduction of the short circuit current due to the orientation of the liquid crystal particle, which increased at a higher temperature. The current study, therefore, shows the greater potential of improving the operating efficiency and reduction of solar cell temperature, without the need for additional pumping power such as needed for photovoltaic thermal application.

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Metastable changes to the temperature coefficients of thin-film photovoltaic modules

Cited by 11 publications

References 7 publications

From Modules to Atoms: Techniques and Characterization for Identifying and Understanding Device-Level Photovoltaic Degradation Mechanisms

From Modules to Atoms: Techniques and Characterization for Identifying and Understanding Device-Level Photovoltaic Degradation Mechanisms

Alternative preconditioning by utilization of a thin film module's dark diode fingerprint

Temperature regulation of concentrating photovoltaic window using argon gas and polymer dispersed liquid crystal films

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