Title:	A Study of Module Degradation From a 10-Year Installation in the Urban Tropical Environment
Author(s):	M. Pravettoni, M. Mahesh S/O Sundar Das, A. Singh Rajput, W. Li, S. Valliappan
Keywords:	Degradation, Lifetime, Optical Losses, Performance, Reliability
Topic:	Photovoltaic Modules and BoS Components
Subtopic:	Materials for PV Modules, Durability, Reliability and Accelerated Testing Methods
Event:	8th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion
Session:	3DO.18.3
Pages:	594 - 598
ISBN:	3-936338-86-8
Paper DOI:	10.4229/WCPEC-82022-3DO.18.3
Price:	0,00 EUR
Document(s):	paper, presentation

Abstract/Summary:

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The solar photovoltaic installation capacity in Southeast Asia is growing widely in the region at the fastest pace among other renewables. Today’s market requires performance warranties that are decades long, and although much effort is put nowadays into module qualification and study of new and ever more aggressive degradation mechanisms, fewer studies are available from the field experience in the tropical climate compared to the continental one. This work aims to present one of the first comprehensive reliability studies of a statistically relevant sampling of PV modules after 10 years of installation in the Tropical region. Degradation modes are listed and analysed, and their occurrence is correlated to power degradation. A total of 72 modules were sampled from the original plant of 750 modules in one of Singapore’s central districts. Soiling was observed to be one of the sources of power degradation: even self-cleaning from the frequent tropical rains is ineffective and cementation takes place. All modules have been analysed and various degradation modes are observed. Their correlation with the observed deviations from the nameplate of the electrical parameters is presented.