Research on the reliability of TOPCon solar cells to predict the module DH results

The market growth of photovoltaics is driven by the development of the technique of solar cells and modules all long. While tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells have been undergoing rapid development, the industry's concurrent trends toward thinner silicon wafers, reduced silver metallization, and double-glass module constructions collectively introduce new reliability challenges for mass production. The IEC61215 standard 1000 h damp heat (DH) test, though critical for reliability assessment, is prohibitively long for guiding production process changes. Rapid and effective monitoring and controlling approaches are required for the mass production of TOPCon urgently. On the basis of the theories and previous studies about the reasons causing DH degradation, an acetic acid fumigation experiment for solar cells has been demonstrated in this study to predict module DH results. This method simulates the DH conditions of DH testing through high-temperature fumigation while introducing acetate ions to replicate the effects of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant hydrolysis. The whole process time only needs less than 16 h, which is far lower than DH testing periods. After 3 groups of experiments and a series of stability verifications, there is an obvious relevance between the results of cells' fumigation experiment and the modules' DH test. Even though modules with different encapsulation materials perform a degree of variation, the overall predict performance is effective, which could be used to detect potential issues of module DH failures based on solar cells.