Current Photovoltaic Research

Korea Photovoltaic Society (한국태양광발전학회)
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A Study on Growth of Intermetallic Compounds Layer of Photovoltaic Module Interconnected by Multi-wires under Damp-heat Conditions

고온고습시험에 의한 멀티 와이어 PV 모듈의 금속 간 화합물 층의 성장에 관한 연구

  • Moon, Ji Yeon (New & Renewable Energy Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute) ;
  • Cho, Seong Hyeon (New & Renewable Energy Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute) ;
  • Son, Hyoung Jin (New & Renewable Energy Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute) ;
  • Jun, Da Yeong (New & Renewable Energy Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute) ;
  • Kim, Sung Hyun (New & Renewable Energy Research Center, Korea Electronics Technology Institute)
  • 문지연 (신재생에너지연구센터, 한국전자기술연구원) ;
  • 조성현 (신재생에너지연구센터, 한국전자기술연구원) ;
  • 손형진 (신재생에너지연구센터, 한국전자기술연구원) ;
  • 전다영 (신재생에너지연구센터, 한국전자기술연구원) ;
  • 김성현 (신재생에너지연구센터, 한국전자기술연구원)
  • Received : 2020.10.14
  • Accepted : 2020.11.24
  • Published : 2020.12.31
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Abstract

Output power of photovoltaic (PV) modules installed outdoors decreases every year due to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, and ultraviolet irradiations. In order to promote the installation of PV modules, the reliability must be guaranteed. One of the important factors affecting reliability is intermetallic compounds (IMC) layer formed in ribbon solder joint. For this reason, various studies on soldering properties between the ribbon and cell have been performed to solve the reliability deterioration caused by excessive growth of the IMC layer. However, the IMC layer of the PV module interconnected by multi-wires has been studied less than using the ribbon. It is necessary to study soldering characteristics of the multi-wire module for improvement of its reliability. In this study, we analyzed the growth of IMC layer of the PV module with multi-wire and the degradation of output power through damp-heat test. The fabricated modules were exposed to damp-heat conditions (85 ºC and 85 % relative humidity) for 1000 hours and the output powers of the modules before and after the damp-heat test were measured. Then, the process of dissolving ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as an encapsulant of the modules was performed to observe the IMC layer. The growth of IMC layer was evaluated using OM and FE-SEM for cross-sectional analysis and EDS for elemental mapping. Based on these results, we investigated the correlation between the IMC layer and output power of modules.

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References

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