Presentation Details
| Reliability Of Solar Pv Modules: Past Achievements And Modern Challenges Alessandro Virtuani. CSEM |
Abstract
This review examines the long-term reliability and performance of PV modules, highlighting the potential for modules designed with optimal durability for lifespans over 30 years. It also explores recent market trends, noting that the rapid introduction of technological innovations and design changes in the latest generation of panels may threaten their long-term reliability, risking the solar industry's established reputation. It is divided into two parts, providing insights from recent literature on the reliability of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules operating for 30+ years and exhibiting optimal long-term performance, with service lifetimes extrapolations to 40+ years. The performance of these modules is linked to their design and bill-of-material (BOM) and clearly indicate the great potential � in terms of durability � for optimally designed modules and systems.
In the second part, we review four macro-trends that presently characterize the solar PV module market (i.e. exponential growth, sharp cost decline, technology, �) and focus on the technological revolution that is characterizing the market in the last five years. However, due to the rapid introduction of these innovations in the market � deployed without a proper track record from the field � and the frequent simultaneous adoption of multiple changes in the same module design, the reliability and durability of the latest generation of solar panels are at risk. In fact, only very recently have major weaknesses and design limitations, previously supported only by anecdotal evidence, begun to be reported in the literature and properly understood. This has reached a point where some of these changes (and particularly their combinations and interdependencies) are starting to be questioned.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.