Photovoltaic panel crack stability

What happens if a photovoltaic cell cracks?

Depending on the crack pattern of the larger cracks, the thermal, mechanical stress, and humidity may lead to “dead” or “inactive” cell parts that cause a loss of power output from the affected photovoltaic cell.

Can a cell crack be detected in a photovoltaic cell?

Using FL imaging, it is especially possible to detect cell cracks in cells of photovoltaic modules [Koentges12]. Cell cracks appear as a dark bar on the solar cell in the FL image. A cell crack is much easier to be identified than in an EL image. Due to the bleaching at the frame of regular cells, cracks at the cell edge are not detectable.

Why is cell cracking a concern for PV modules?

Many semiconductors are brittle, so cell cracking is a concern for PV modules [198, 199]. Cell cracks can be initiated during manufacturing due to residual stresses from thermal processing, soldering, and lamination [, , , ].

Can electroluminescence detect cell cracks in photovoltaic modules?

Table 5.4.1 summarizes all effects being detectable with electroluminescence for wafer-based PV modules. The table 5.4.1 also shows the influence of the effects to the electrical parameters of a PV module. Using EL imaging, it is especially possible to detect cell cracks in photovoltaic modules.

Why is my PV module cracking?

Typical reasons for the heavy mechanical loads are wrong packaging during transport, dropping of a PV module parallel to the ground, tilting over of a PV module or very heavy snow load. This crack pattern indicates that the crack has occurred after the lamination process.

Can cracks degrade PV output power under controlled indoor testing?

Usually, and as explained in multiple previous studies 21, 22, 23, cracks can degrade the PV output power under controlled indoor testing; these various studies, however, do not consider the influence of the size of the cracks and the correlation between the cracks and their thermal impact on the PV modules.