• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.124-128
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• 2020

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.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.57 no.11
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• pp.1988-1993
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• 2008

Photovoltaic (PV) modules operate over a large range of conditions but manufacturer's information is not sufficient to determine their overall performance. Designers need a reliable tool to predict energy production from a photovoltaic module under all conditions in order to make a sound decision. The modeling method of photovoltaic (PV) module are useful to perform detailed analysis of PV system performance for changing meteorological conditions, verify actual rated power of PV system sizing and determine the optimal design of PV system and components. This paper indicates a modeling approach of PV module performance in terms of meteorological conditions and identifies validity of PV modules modeling by comparing measured with simulated value.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.130-135
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• 2010

In this paper, the shading ratio about to output the minimum critical power of a photovoltaic panel was determined by experiment and simulation. A 2.475[kW] poly-crystalline photovoltaic panel consisting of 11 modules was used in the experiment and its surface was covered with shading curtains, thus the amount of light incident to the modules were controlled. In order to compare with the experimental results, the experimental circuits were modelled with the CASPOC (power electronics electrical drives simulator) and module parameters were applied to it, by which the minimum critical power was calculated. As a result, the photovoltaic panel was about to generate the power when the 5th shading curtains were removed from the module surface, after then the output power linearly increased by removing the shading curtains. In addition, the CASPOC simulation results were similar to the experimental results in the abrupt decreasing pattern of power.

• Bulletin of the Korea Photovoltaic Society
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.46-61
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• 2019

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.904-910
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• 2017

This paper presents temperature measurement of solar photovoltaic modules using the custom-made system composed of an infrared temperature sensor and a microcontroller. The obtained measurement results are processed, displayed and stored on a PC using the custom-made virtual instrument. The proposed system overcomes some of the problems related to the contact sensor application, and at the same time offers accurate readings and better flexibility. The proposed system is especially suitable for applications where the cost is a limiting factor in the choice of measuring system. The conducted analysis and the obtained results have shown an excellent accuracy of the proposed system in comparison to a high quality thermal imaging camera used as the reference instrument.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.561-567
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• 2011

This paper presents a high-efficiency power conditioning system (PCS) for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) modules. The proposed PCS consists of a step-up DC-DC converter and a single-phase DC-AC inverter for the grid-connected PV modules. A soft-switching step-up DC-DC converter is proposed to generate a high DC-link voltage from the low PV module voltage with a high-efficiency. A DC-link voltage controller is presented for constant DC-link voltage regulation. A half-bridge inverter is used for the single-phase DC-AC inverter for grid connection. A grid current controller is suggested to supply PV electrical power to the power grid with a unity power factor. Experimental results are obtained from a 180 W grid-connected PV module system using the proposed PCS. The proposed PCS achieves a high power efficiency of 93.0 % with an unity power factor for a 60 Hz / 120 Vrms AC power grid.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.1-6
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• 2007

In this study, we analyze the maximum power generation of photovoltaic(PV) module depending on constituent materials and incidence angle dependence of light. To verify characteristics of constituent materials, we made photovoltaic modules with 4 kinds of solar cells and textured glass according to fabrication method. To find the degree of the maximum power generation dependence on intensity of light, Solar Simulator is applied by changing angle of module and light intensity. Through this experiment, to obtain maximum power generation from limited PV modules, it is needed to fully understand constituent materials, fabrication method and dependence of incident light characteristics.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.114-117
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• 2023

Transparent Photovoltaic (PV) modules have recently been in the spotlight because they can be applied to buildings and vehicles. However, crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules, which account for about 90% of the PV module market, have the disadvantage of applying transparent PV modules due to their unique opacity. Recently, a see-through type PV module using a crystalline silicon solar strap has been developed. However, there is a problem due to a decrease in aesthetics due to the metal ribbon in the center of the see-through type PV module and difficulty bonding the metal ribbon due to the low voltage output of the strap. In this study, to solve this problem, we developed a fabrication process of series connected c-Si solar strap cells using the c-Si solar cells. We succeeded in fabricating a series connected strap with a width of 2-10 mm, and we plan to manufacture an aesthetic see-through type c-Si PV module.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.111-120
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• 2019

The output power of a crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) module is not directly the sum of the powers of its unit cells. There are several losses and gain mechanisms that reduce the total output power when solar cells are encapsulated into solar modules. Theses factors are getting high attention as the high cell efficiency achievement become more complex and expensive. More research works are involved to minimize the "cell-to-module" (CTM) loss. Our paper is aimed to focus on electrical losses due to interconnection and mismatch loss at PV modules. Research study shows that among all reasons of PV module failure 40.7% fails at interconnection. The mismatch loss in modern PV modules is very low (nearly 0.1%) but still lacks in the approach that determines all the contributing factors in mismatch loss. This review paper is related to study of interconnection loss technologies and key factors contributing to mismatch loss during module fabrication. Also, the improved interconnection technologies, understanding the approaches to mitigate the mismatch loss factors are precisely described here. This research study will give the approach of mitigating the loss and enable improvement in reliability of PV modules.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.287-294
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• 2015

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are environmentally friendly energy-conversion devices to generate electricity via the photovoltaic effect of semiconductors on solar energy. One of key elements in PV modules is "Backsheet," a multi-layered film to protect the devices from a variety of chemicals including water vapor. A representative Backsheet is composed of polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). PVF is relatively expensive, while showing excellent resistance to chemical attacks. Thus, it is necessary to develop alternatives which can lower its high production cost and guarantee lifetime applicable to practical PV modules at the same time. In this study, PET films with certain levels of crystallinity were utilized instead of PVF. Since it is well known that PET is suffering from trans-esterification and hydrolysis under a wide pH range, it is needed to understand decomposition behavior of the PET films under PV operation conditions. To evaluate their chemical decomposition behavior within a short period of times, accelerated decomposition test protocol is developed. Moreover, electrochemical long-term performances of the PV module employing the PET-based Backsheet are investigated to prove the efficacy of the proposed concept.