Abstract
The Atacama Desert receives the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world with an annual average of 2500 kWh/m2 for the global horizontal irradiance and 3500 kWh/m2 for the direct normal irradiance. One of the challenges is the large portion of ultraviolet light. This part of the spectrum be detrimental for the encapsulant materials, reducing their lifetime. To develop a module adapted to the Atacama Desert conditions, it is imperative to have standardized information from first-hand about the typical faults experienced by photovoltaic modules operating in the desert. This work reports on the design and implementation of the Inspection Data Collection Tool to evaluate crystalline silicon-based moules operating in desert climates. The tool brings together novel features of compatibility with current standards, efficient mobile-type instrumentation (equipment and tools), clear procedures/protocols for non-expert users and low development costs. A total of 95 modules were inspected to characterize failure/degradation issues. Three components of the solar modules were assessed: front cover glass, ethylene-vinyl acetate encapsulant and solar cells. Seven abnormalities were analyzed: Soiling, front cover glass discoloration, encapsulant delamination, hotspots, partial shading, cell fracture and faulty soldering. Soiling was the most common issue, showing correlation between dust deposition and location.
Highlights
Accepted: 20 April 2021The Atacama Desert, within its 105,000 km2 receives the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world with an annual average of 2500 kWh/m2 for the global horizontal irradiance (GHI), 3500 kWh/m2 for the direct normal irradiance (DNI) and 4000 h of sunlight
There is an issue, the so-called snail trails, that a module can suffer. It is the discoloration of the module, caused by moisture which can ingress through the backsheet and diffuse to the solar cell surface [26,27,28,29]
The Inspection Data Collection Tool (IDCTool) was designed as a low-cost approach and implemented for photovoltaic (PV) modules installed in the north part of the Atacama Desert in Chile
Summary
The Atacama Desert, within its 105,000 km receives the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world with an annual average of 2500 kWh/m2 for the global horizontal irradiance (GHI), 3500 kWh/m2 for the direct normal irradiance (DNI) and 4000 h of sunlight. The Atacama Desert presents advantages and important challenges due to the high ultraviolet (UV) irradiance. This, in combination with an annual average of 2 mm of rainfall (in the key zones of the desert) and an average temperature of more than 30 ◦ C in the summer, may lead to a fast degradation of the encapsulant materials of photovoltaic (PV) modules operating in the desert. The main root cause for PV module’s degradation is the interaction between materials within the PV module [2]. The encapsulant materials allow to have a solid structure to transport, manipulate and install the PV module and maintain a safe electrical insulation of the device and protect its active layers against the environmental conditions.
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