Prediction of potential induced degradation for TOPCon PV modules working in field based on accelerated stress testing

Abstract

Potential induced degradation (PID) is a serious concern for photovoltaic (PV) modules operating in fields with high system voltage, humidity and temperature, which may potentially lead to substantial performance losses. In this study, we developed a methodology to predict the field degradation of PID based on the dual-glass modules of tunnel oxide passivated contracts (TOPCon) cells. The Arrhenius equations have been applied to fit the PV power degradation rates using the PID data from steady-state test chambers with a light intensity of 800 W/m². In addition, the acceleration factors (AF), which is defined as the ratio of power degradation rate in the accelerated test to that in the field, have been evaluated for different temperatures. The methodology has been applied to other multiple typical field conditions, including the medium temperature/humidity East-China, the high temperature/humidity South-China, the high temperature dry Middle East, and the high humidity offshore fields. The predicted power degradation rates from PID in 30 years for the South-China and Middle East areas are 1.57 % and 1.13 %, respectively. In addition, the power degradation from water bath PID in 30 years, as fitted by exponential model, is roughly 4.01 % at most.