PVSC-2019-460.pdf (4.44 MB)
Movement of cracked silicon solar cells during module temperature changes
conference contribution
posted on 2020-01-23, 15:08 authored by Timothy Silverman, Martin BlissMartin Bliss, Ali AbbasAli Abbas, Tom BettsTom Betts, Michael WallsMichael Walls, Ingrid RepinsCracks in crystalline silicon solar cells can lead
to substantial power loss. While the cells’ metal contacts can
initially bridge these cracks and maintain electrical connections,
the bridges are damaged by mechanical loads, including those
due to temperature changes. We investigated the metallization
bridges that form over cracks in encapsulated silicon solar cells.
Microscopic characterization showed that the crack in the silicon
can immediately propagate through the metal grid, but the grid
can maintain electrical contact once the load is removed. We
also quantified the movement of the cell fragments separated
by a crack as a function of temperature. Cell fragments are
free to move diagonally and to rotate, so the change in gap
across the crack during a temperature change varies along the
length of the crack. In one sample, we showed that a 10 ◦C
temperature change, causing a 2 µm increase in the separation
of cell fragments, was sufficient to cause a reversible electrical
disconnection of metallization bridging a crack.
Funding
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency
U.S. Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Research Unit
- Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST)
Published in
2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)Pages
1517 - 1520Source
Proceedings of the 46th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC)Publisher
IEEEVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© IEEEPublisher statement
Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.Acceptance date
2019-06-21Publication date
2020-02-06Copyright date
2019ISBN
9781728104942ISSN
0160-8371Publisher version
Language
- en
Location
Chicago, ILEvent dates
17th June 2019 - 21st June 2019Depositor
Dr Ali Abbas . Deposit date: 21 January 2020Usage metrics
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