Post-Mortem Analysis of Building-Integrated Flexible Thin Film Modules

IF 8 2区材料科学 Q1 ENERGY & FUELS

Progress in Photovoltaics Pub Date : 2024-10-08 DOI:10.1002/pip.3846

Aldo Kingma, Helena Kirchner Sala, Leonard Simeonov, Rémi Aninat, Simona Villa, Klaas Bakker, Monique van den Nieuwenhof, Dorrit Roosen, Joris de Riet, Marc Koetse, Bart van de Vorst, Henk Steijvers, Mirjam Theelen

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Abstract

Flexible, lightweight thin film (TF) photovoltaic (PV) modules offer a unique opportunity for integration into non-planar surfaces unable to support heavy weights. While such applications increase the potential for PV in urban areas, the reliability implications are yet to be investigated. Here, prototypes of corrugated rooftiles with integrated Cu (In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) modules were investigated after 3 years of outdoor operation. Their performance before and after the outdoor exposure was compared and defects were localized. An unpackaging method was developed, allowing access to the solar cells for more detailed characterization of present defects without causing additional damage or changes to existing defects. To our knowledge, this was the first time such an unpackaging method was successfully applied to flexible TF PV modules. The relative efficiency loss ranged from 17% to 43%, mostly due to short-circuit current (I_SC) loss and series resistance (R_S) increase. The predominant cause of the R_S increase was the delamination at the interconnects, ascribed to thermomechanical stresses caused by outdoor temperature fluctuations. The I_SC loss was mainly caused by localized delamination of CIGS from the molybdenum (Mo) back-contact. The occurrence of such delaminated areas pointed to presence of high local stresses during outdoor operation, possibly due to thermal fluctuations, applied deformation and/or mechanical impact. Two other types of delamination defects were found with no observable impact on performance. These results show the necessity for further optimization in the material choice and processing of TF flexible modules, to avoid mechanical stress related failures upon integration into curved surfaces.

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建筑集成柔性薄膜模块的事后分析

灵活、轻便的薄膜（TF）光伏（PV）模块为集成到无法支持重物的非平面表面提供了独特的机会。虽然这些应用增加了城市地区光伏发电的潜力，但其可靠性影响还有待调查。在这里，集成了Cu (In,Ga)Se2 （CIGS）模块的瓦楞屋顶瓦的原型经过3年的户外运行进行了研究。比较了它们在室外暴露前后的性能，并对缺陷进行了定位。开发了一种拆封方法，允许对太阳能电池进行更详细的表征，而不会对现有缺陷造成额外的损坏或改变。据我们所知，这是首次将这种拆封方法成功应用于柔性TF光伏组件。相对效率损失在17% ~ 43%之间，主要是由于短路电流（ISC）损失和串联电阻（RS）增加所致。RS增加的主要原因是互连处的分层，归因于室外温度波动引起的热机械应力。ISC损耗主要是由钼背接触引起的CIGS局部分层引起的。这种分层区域的出现表明在室外作业期间存在较高的局部应力，可能是由于热波动、施加变形和/或机械冲击造成的。发现了另外两种类型的分层缺陷，对性能没有明显的影响。这些结果表明，有必要进一步优化TF柔性模块的材料选择和加工，以避免集成到曲面上的机械应力相关失效。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Progress in Photovoltaics 工程技术-能源与燃料

CiteScore

18.10

自引率

7.50%

发文量

130

审稿时长

5.4 months

期刊介绍： Progress in Photovoltaics offers a prestigious forum for reporting advances in this rapidly developing technology, aiming to reach all interested professionals, researchers and energy policy-makers. The key criterion is that all papers submitted should report substantial “progress” in photovoltaics. Papers are encouraged that report substantial “progress” such as gains in independently certified solar cell efficiency, eligible for a new entry in the journal''s widely referenced Solar Cell Efficiency Tables. Examples of papers that will not be considered for publication are those that report development in materials without relation to data on cell performance, routine analysis, characterisation or modelling of cells or processing sequences, routine reports of system performance, improvements in electronic hardware design, or country programs, although invited papers may occasionally be solicited in these areas to capture accumulated “progress”.