Terrestrial Photovoltaic Module Accelerated Test-To-Failure Protocol

This technical report documents a test-to-failure protocol that may be used to obtain quantitative information about the reliability of photovoltaic modules using accelerated testing in environmental temperature-humidity chambers

PV System Performance and Standards

This paper presents a brief overview of the status and accomplishments during fiscal year (FY) 2005 of the Photovoltaic (PV) System Performance and Standards Subtask, which is part of the PV Systems Engineering Project (a joint NREL-Sandia project)

Exploratory Reliability and Performance R&D

This paper presents a brief overview of the status and accomplishments during fiscal year (FY) 2005 of the Photovoltaic (PV) Exploratory Reliability and Performance R&D Subtask, which is part of the PV Module Reliability R&D Project (a joint NREL-Sandia project)

Monolithic InP/Ga0.47In0.53As tandem solar cells for space

A review is provided of progress made in the development of InP/Ga(0.47)In(0.53)As monolithic tandem solar cells since the last SPRAT conference. Improved one-sun, three terminal tandem designs have resulted in Air Mass Zero (AM0) efficiencies as high as 23.9 pct. at 25 C. Additionally, high efficiency concentrator versions of the three terminal device were developed. The best concentrator tandem has a peak AM0 efficiency of 28.8 pct. under 40.3 suns at 25 C. For the concentrator tandems, the subcell performance parameter temperature coefficients are reported as a function of the concentration ratio. Results from a computer modeling study are presented which provide a clear direction for improving the efficiency of the concentrator tandem. The prospects for fabricating high efficiency, series connected (i.e., two terminal) InP/Ga(0.47)In(0.53)As monolithic tandem cells are also discussed

Outdoor PV Degradation Comparison

As photovoltaic (PV) penetration of the power grid increases, it becomes vital to know how decreased power output may affect cost over time. In order to predict power delivery, the decline or degradation rates must be determined accurately. At the Performance and Energy Rating Testbed (PERT) at the Outdoor Test Facility (OTF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) more than 40 modules from more than 10 different manufacturers were compared for their long-term outdoor stability. Because it can accommodate a large variety of modules in a limited footprint the PERT system is ideally suited to compare modules side-by-side under the same conditions

Forward-Biased Thermal Cycling: A New Module Qualification Test

Following a proposal by BP Solarex to modify the standard module qualification sequence, we performed a forward-biased themal cycling on three types of commercial modules to evaluate the procedure. The total number of thermal cycles was doubled to 400 and maximum power measurements were made every 50 cycles

Stability of CIS/CIGS Modules at the Outdoor Test Facility over Two Decades: Preprint

This paper discusses examining the status and question of long-term stability of copper indium diselenide (CIS) photovoltaic (PV) module performance for numerous modules that are deployed in the array field, or on the roof of, the outdoor test facility (OTF) at NREL, acquired from two manufacturers

Validation of a Photovoltaic Module Energy Ratings Procedure at NREL

The procedure determines the energy production of a PV module for five reference days. The reference days represent possible operating environments and are qualitatively described as Hot Sunny, Cold Sunny, Hot Cloudy, Cold Cloudy, and Nice. Based on statistical weather criteria, these days were selected from the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). Besides the hourly solar radiation and meteorological data from the NSRDB, the reference days include air mass, angle of incidence, plane of array, and spectral irradiance for a south-facing PV module at latitude tilt, battery-charging voltage, and parameters f1 and f2 for determining PV module temperature. Indoor I-V curve measurements over a range of temperatures and irradiances characterize the electrical performance of a PV module and are used to determine factors to correct for non-linear performance when irradiance and temperature vary. They also serve as a matrix of reference I-V curves for translating to reference-day condition s. The sensitivity of a PV module to variations in the spectral distribution of the incident radiation is accounted for by using an incident irradiance. Differences in PV module thermal characteristics are accounted for by using a PV module's installed nominal operating cell temperature (INOCT) for input to the Fuentes temperature model. The procedure does not consider radiation and transmittance losses at large incident angles. These losses were judged too small, and not sufficiently different, for various PV modules to justify the complexity of their measurement and inclusion in the procedure. PV performance measurements from NREL's Outdoor Test Facility during calendar-year 1998 were used to validate the procedure by comparing modeled and measured maximum power values for seven flat-plate PV modules representing different technologies. On an annual basis, modeled values compared within 5% of measured values. Taking into account reproducibility errors from ratings being performed by different facilities and the modeling errors, the following statement applies to the ability of this procedure to show relative differences in the energy production of two PV modules: ''Because of errors in measurements and energy rating methodology, differences of 8% or less in the energy ratings of two PV modules are not significant. If one of the PV modules is amorphous silicon, differences of 13% or less in the energy ratings of two PV modules are not significant.'' This work was performed to develop and validate a PV module energy rating procedure for incorporation into IEEE PAR1479, ''Recommended Practice for the Evaluation of Photovoltaic Module Energy Production.'

Comparison of Degradation Rates of Individual Modules Held at Maximum Power

States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. In this paper, we present a comparison of maximum power degradation rates of individual modules under out-door conditions in Golden, Colorado. Test modules in-clude single- and polycrystalline-Si (x-Si, poly-Si), amor-phous Si (a-Si, single, dual, and triple junction), CdTe, Cu-In-Ga-Se-S (CIS), and c-Si/a-Si heterostructure, from nine difference manufacturers. From monthly blocks of output power data, ratings were determined using multiple re-gressions to Performance Test Conditions (PTC). Plotting the power ratings versus time allowed degradation rates to be calculated from linear regressions. We also include a summary of module degradation rates obtained from the open literature over the past five years. Compared with the common rule-of-thumb value of 1 % per year, many modules are seen to have significantly smaller degrada-tion rates. A few modules, however, degrade significantly faster

Unit roots in periodic autoregressions

Abstract. This paper analyzes the presence and consequences of a unit root in periodic autoregressive models for univariate quarterly time series. First, we consider various representations of such models, including a new parametrization which facilitates imposing a unit root restriction. Next, we propose a class of likelihood ratio tests for a unit root, and we derive their asymptotic null distributions. Likelihood ratio tests for periodic parameter variation are also proposed. Finally, we analyze the impact on unit root inference of misspecifying a periodic process by a constant-parameter model