Reliability implications of partial shading on CIGS photovoltaic devices: A literature review
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Reliability implications of partial shading on CIGS photovoltaic devices: A literature review Klaas Bakker1,a)
, Arthur Weeber2, Mirjam Theelen3
1
Delft University of Technology, PVMD, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; and TNO, Energy Transitions—Solliance, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands 2 Delft University of Technology, PVMD, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; and TNO, Energy Transitions—Solar Energy, 1755 LE Petten, The Netherlands 3 TNO, Energy Transitions—Solliance, 5656 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected] Received: 17 July 2019; accepted: 15 November 2019
Partial shading of Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) modules is getting more attention, as is witnessed by the increase in publications on this topic in recent years. This review will give an overview of shading tests executed on CIGS modules and focuses on the more fundamental aspects that are often studied on cells. Generally, CIGS modules display very attractive performance under predictable row-to-row shading. However, potential damage could occur under nonoptimal shading orientations: module output after shading tests could reduce due to the formation of local shunts, often called wormlike defects. The influence of many factors on the formation of these defects, including the internal currents and voltages and the shape and intensity of the shade, will be discussed. This review allows an increased insight in the degradation mechanisms caused by partial shading, which would ultimately lead to the introduction of more shade-tolerant CIGS PV products in the future.
Introduction Photovoltaic (PV)-based electricity is playing an increasing role as a renewable energy source. Actually, in 2017, the total installed PV capacity was over 400 GWp [1], showing a rapid increase due to a dramatical decrease in cost and increase of efficiency. One of the PV technologies displaying rapid growth are devices based on thin-film Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) absorbers. These devices contain absorber materials with a direct band gap, therefore allowing solar cell stacks with a thickness of only several microns. Currently, many studies are even working toward solar cells with submicron absorber thicknesses [2]. Moreover, record efficiencies up to 23.35% [3] have been reported, thereby even surpassing efficiencies of multicrystalline silicon solar cells. The key advantages of CIGS compared to, e.g., crystalline silicon devices include its attractive temperature dependency, a short energy payback time, and advantageous cost projections: due to the reduced amount of required material for thin-film solar cells and the possibility to use low-cost manufacturing techniques, a reduction of costs due to the further scale-up is expected [4]. Moreover, the possibility to deposit fully black PV devices on a large range of substrates, including glass, plastics, and metal foils, allows the usage of the CIGS technology in a large number of new
ª Materials Research Society 2019
applications: these include integration
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