Towards 50 Year Lifetime Photovoltaic Modules

Double Glass versus Glass/Backsheet

Happy family running near their house with solar panels

The Double Glass versus Glass/Backseat project conducted at Case School of Engineering’s Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension (SDLE) Research Center is detailed below.

Project Overview

To be able to meet the current and future energy requirements, renewable energy resources are important. In this aspect, photovoltaic (PV) modules are particularly attractive options. c-Si PV modules are being explored and deployed for this purpose. Upon real-world outdoor exposure conditions, the durability and lifetime of PV modules can be affected. In order to enhance the modules’ durability and lifetime, improved packaging materials and module architecture represent a major opportunity. 

This project was focused on identifying the advances needed to increase PV module lifetimes to 50 years by lowering module power degradation rates to ~ 0.2%/year so as to achieve the 2030 SunShot goal of $0.03/kWh. Fabrication of glass/backsheet and double glass modules using different packaging materials (white, UV-cutoff, and transparent variations of EVA and POE encapsulants) and cell types (mono-facial and bi-facial, multi-crystalline PERC cells) provide the module design space being explored. Four cell minimodules of both glass/backsheet and double glass module architectures will be exposed under both real-world and accelerated exposure conditions. 

These stepwise evaluations include characterization of electrical (EL, PL, I-V), mechanical (4-point bending) and chemical (spectroscopy) degradation mechanisms. Degradation pathway models for the different architectures and packaging materials will illustrate the mechanisms which contribute most strongly to the degradation rate and thereby limit the lifetime performance of the modules. 

Members and Collaborators

  • Roger H. French (Principal Investigator and Kyocera Professor, CWRU)
  • Laura S. Bruckman (Research Associate Professor, CWRU)
  • Jennifer L. Carter (Assistant Professor, CWRU)
  • Jiqi Liu (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, CWRU)
  • Sameera Nalin Venkat (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, CWRU)
  • Nick S. Bosco (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
  • Jianfang Dai (Cybrid Technologies Inc.)
  • William J. Gambogi (DuPont Inc.)
  • Brent Brownell (Cybrid Technologies Inc.)
  • Yuan Gu (Canadian Solar Inc.)
  • Jean-Nicolas Jaubert (Canadian Solar Inc.)
  • Jennifer L. Braid (current affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories)

Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Agreement Number DE-EE-0008550.