The impact of aging of solar cells on the performance of photovoltaic panels

Photovoltaic technology has played an increasingly important role in the global energy scenery. However, there are some challenges concerning the durability of photovoltaic modules that need to be overcome. Several factors lead to its degradation with a progressive reduction in its efficiency over the years. This aging depends on the type of photovoltaic technology and on the environment where the modules are installed. In this context, it will be investigated the impact of degradation on the performance of four photovoltaic technologies (c-Si, a-Si, CIGS and organic perovskite cells). Therefore, experimental tests of two different degradation conditions were carried out: formation of cracks and formation of bubbles. Throughout each of the experimental stages, the evolution of the electrical parameters that represent the cell performance was analyzed. In addition to the experimental study, a Finite Element Model with 3D representation of a c-Si was developed in order to assess the impact of the bubbles volume on the light absorption of this cell. Based on the experimental results, it is concluded that cracking significantly affected the performance of all the technologies studied. Regarding bubble induction, there was a reduction in the electrical conversion of c-Si and organic perovskite technologies. Contrarily, the a-Si cell was not very sensitive to heating and no visible bubbles or efficiency decrease were detected. With the optical simulation it is concluded that, in c-Si cell, the increase of the total bubbles volume is reflected in a decrease of its absorption.