Electrical Performance Results From Physical Stress Testing of Commercial PV Modules to the IEC 61215 Test Sequence

Abstract

This paper presents statistical analysis of the behavior of electrical performance of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules tested from 1990 up to 2006. Since 1981 the European Solar Test Installation of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has been performing accelerated ageing tests on PV modules. From 1990 the test standard applied was Commission of the European Communities (CEC) Specification 503, which formed the basis for the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard 61215 (1993). The record of electrical performance measurements on all modules subjected to either CEC 503 or IEC 61215 form an extensive database specific stress induced degradation. The results presented in this paper confirm the appropriateness of the module testing scheme to reveal design problems in commercial PV modules. Strong correlation between different tests was not observed, indicating that the standard is well designed as a set of different, generally independat stress factors. The selection of tests applied to PV modules during the execution of CEC503 or IEC 61215, ensures that different failure mechanisms are provoked, revealing different design/material weaknesses.