The Impact of Snail Trails and Cracks to Energy Output of Photovoltaic Modules at Lotas Off-Grid PV System

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of the snail trails and cracks phenomena in 200 Wp photovoltaic (PV) modules to energy output after five years of operation. Data collection was carried out through string voltage measurement, visual inspection, and Real Operating Conditions (ROC) test for permanently degraded PV especially the type of snail trail and crack degradation conducted at the Lotas Off-Grid PV System, South Central Timor Indonesia. For this paper, we applied quantitative methods to analyze data. The result shows that the permanent degradation caused by the snail trail will experience a maximum power decrease of 67 Watt per m, while permanent degradation caused by crack will experience a power decrease of 551 Watt/m. Kewords: PV module, snail trail, cracks, energy, production