Evaluation of the Impact of Stagnation Temperatures in Different Prototypes of Low Concentration PVT Solar Panels
Abstract
Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) solar panels produce both thermal and electric power from the some area. This paper concerns a PVT design where the series connected strings of cells are laminated using silicone to an aluminium receiver where the heat transfer fluid flows. An evaluation of the impact of reaching high temperatures in the cell structural integrity and performance is presented. Eight small test receivers were made in which the following properties were varied: Size of the PV cells, type of silicone used to encapsulate the PV cells, existence of a strain relief between the cells, size of the gap between cells and type of cell soldering (line or point soldering). These test receivers were placed in an oven for one hour, under eight different monitored temperatures. The temperature of the last round was set at 220°C which well exceeds the highest temperature the panel design can reach. Before and after each round in the oven, the following tests were conducted to the receivers: Electroluminescence (EL) test, IV-curve, diode function, and visual inspection. The test results showed that the receivers made with the transparent silicone and strain relief between cells experienced less micro-cracks and lower degradation in maximum power. No prototype test receiver lost more than 30% of its initial power, despite the large cell breakage shown in some receivers. Prototype receivers with transparent (softer) silicone showed much far less cracks and power decrease when compared to red (harder) silicone receivers. As expected, larger cells are more prone to develop micro- cracks after exposure to thermal stress. Additionally, existing micro-cracks tend to grow in size into larger micro-cracks relatively fast with thermal stress. The EL imaging taken during our experiment leads us to observe that it seems far easier for existing cracks to expand than for new cracks to appear.
Keywords
Stagnation temperature, Electroluminescence test, Iv-curve, Concentration, Pvt