Effect of moisture condensation on long-term reliability of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Abstract

Moisture condensation (MC) can occur in photovoltaic (PV) modules in hot and humid climates, and the resulting water droplets can cause more areas of corrosion. Therefore, in this study, MC history of PV modules exposed to Miami climate (FL, USA) has been derived employing corresponding meteorological data. The duration of MC versus temperature of PV module (T-module) was calculated over I year. Furthermore, five types of accelerated tests were conducted to develop a MC-induced degradation prediction model. The thermal activation energy, 0.4524 eV, was calculated. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model was used to predict the degradation rate. The accumulated degradation rate of a PV module exposed to the accelerated condition of MC was 1.45 times greater than that of damp heat (DH). The effect of encapsulant materials on the frequency of MC and accumulated degradation rate over 1 year were calculated in the Miami climate. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.