Comprehensive analysis of aging mechanisms and design solutions for desert-resilient photovoltaic modules

This study aims to address the best practices and recommendations that contribute to the development of a tailored photovoltaic (PV) module design suited to desert conditions. To realize this customized design, a comprehensive analysis of in-situ aging assessment on five PV systems was undertaken. The initial phase of this assessment involved outdoor visual inspections, revealing visual material degradation modes such as snail trails, delamination, and discoloration. Subsequently, using infrared (IR) imaging and electroluminescence (EL) as powerful techniques, we pinpointed non-visual material issues such as hot spots, potential-induced degradation (PID) on p-type crystalline PV module, and micro-cracks emerging. The trends in the electrical parameters obtained from outdoor-measured I–V curves are analyzed to delve deeper into the performance decline of the PV modules. The findings revealed elevated degradation rates (Rd) values up to 2.7 %/y, largely attributed to the severe climate conditions at the investigation site. This poses significant implications for PV economic viability of the power plant and the payback time in such conditions. By focusing on the key material-related degradation modes that prevail in the exposed five PV systems employing a methodology that leverages Pareto analysis and integrates severity scores assessed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), we analyzed various mitigating solutions to address the dominant observed defects under the challenging desert conditions. Some recommendations on the constitutive parts of the module have been proposed to make them more resilient to the desert environment. These mitigating solutions include recommendations for enhancing the durability of the components of the module to better withstand the harsh desert environment.