Assessing the Effect of Temperature on Degradation Modes of PV Panels

Abstract

PV panels are affected by many degradation modes. We list the Potential Induced Degradation, the Light Induced Degradation, the UltraViolet Light Degradation, the Moisture Induced Degradation, and the Cell Cracks. These degradation modes are affected by external environmental conditions as irradiance, temperature and humidity. The common factor that affects the degradation modes is temperature. The degradation process follows an Arrhenius equation; it is exponentially related to temperature. In this paper we evaluate precisely the effect of temperature on the degradation process of PV panels.