Abstract
In a silicon wafer-based photovoltaic (PV) module, significant power is lost due to current transport through the ribbons interconnecting neighbour cells. Using halved cells in PV modules is an effective method to reduce the resistive power loss which has already been applied by some major PV manufacturers (Mitsubishi, BP Solar) in their commercial available PV modules. As a consequence, quantitative analysis of PV modules using halved cells is needed. In this paper we investigate theoretically and experimentally the difference between modules made with halved and full-size solar cells. Theoretically, we find an improvement in fill factor of 1.8% absolute and output power of 90 mW for the halved cell minimodule. Experimentally, we find an improvement in fill factor of 1.3% absolute and output power of 60 mW for the halved cell module. Also, we investigate theoretically how this effect confers to the case of large-size modules. It is found that the performance increment of halved cell PV modules is even higher for high-efficiency solar cells. After that, the resistive loss of large-size modules with different interconnection schemes is analysed. Finally, factors influencing the performance and cost of industrial halved cell PV modules are discussed.
Highlights
Cell-to-module (CTM) losses are a concern for every silicon wafer-based PV module manufacturer
In order to calculate the gain in fill factor and output power when we go from a full-size cell minimodule to a halved cell minimodule, simulations were performed
The difference between simulation and experimental results is probably due to the additional shunting problem caused by laser cutting and the mismatch effect between the two halved cells
Summary
Cell-to-module (CTM) losses are a concern for every silicon wafer-based PV module manufacturer. These CTM losses occur generally for one of two reasons: (1) optical losses that are caused by the module encapsulation processes, for example, increased reflectance loss, and parasitic absorptance losses in the cover glass and front encapsulant layer [1, 2] and (2) resistive losses due to the ribbons and the configuration of the silicon wafer solar cells inside the module. The optical losses are given for a specific set of module materials (glass, EVA), and it is not possible to reduce these losses without changing materials (e.g., by using silicone encapsulant or applying an antireflection coating on the cover glass). In a publication by Su et al [4], improving the output power by using a back sheet reflector was investigated
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