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Energies
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Frontiers in Photovoltaic Modules
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Frontiers in Photovoltaic Modules

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A2: Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2022) | Viewed by 7185

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jens Schneider

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK), 04277 Leipzig, Germany
Interests: renewable energy; energy systems flexibility; sector coupling; energy system development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue, we invite original submissions of new research outcomes or reviews that highlight challenges and opportunities in photovoltaic modules.

Today, photovoltaic is widely recognized as the lowest cost technology for electricity generation with continued cost reduction. While the market for photovoltaic energy is expanding new frontiers for PV module technologies, the PV module must adapt to and make the most of:

  • new cell technologies, whether it is just the cell size or cell technology (including bifacial or tandem cells);
  • PV applications generate electricity from all large surfaces making low-cost energy available, e.g., in buildings (BIPV) and vehicles (VIPV);
  • Deploying large quantities of solar and considering prefabrications of system parts.

While meeting these challenges, PV module lifetime must remain high at above 20, 30, or more years, independent of ambient conditions in order to reduce costs. Novel characterization techniques for solar modules keep module production quality at the right level.

Topics of interest for publication in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

A) Adapting to new cell technologies
B) Improving module technology
C) Module Applications
D) Module characterization

Prof. Dr. Jens Schneider
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • perovskite silicon tandem solar modules

  • bifacial solar modules
  • solar cell and module size
  • Cell-To-Module power ratio (CTM)
  • Cell-To-System power ratio (CTS)
  • encapsulant
  • backsheet
  • glass-glass modules
  • interconnections
  • shingles
  • soldering
  • conductive adhesives
  • module colour
  • smart modules
  • power optimizers
  • microinverters
  • module monitoring
  • Build-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV)
  • Vehicle-Integrated Photovoltaic (VIPV)
  • sun simulators
  • module defects
  • module degradation

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 2026 KiB  
Article
The Influence of UV Light Exposure on the Reliability of Various Front Materials for Lightweight PV Module
by Muhammad Aleem Zahid, Sungheon Kim, In-Sung Jung, Seong-Hwan Kang, Young-Hyun Cho, Eun-Chel Cho and Junsin Yi
Energies 2022, 15(19), 6894; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15196894 - 21 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1871
Abstract
The need for innovative design and materials is increasing for various types of photovoltaic (PV) installations in building integrated PV, agricultural, and floating systems. It is crucial to reduce the weight of the PV module to maximize its use in such applications. For [...] Read more.
The need for innovative design and materials is increasing for various types of photovoltaic (PV) installations in building integrated PV, agricultural, and floating systems. It is crucial to reduce the weight of the PV module to maximize its use in such applications. For this purpose, the front surface must be made of a polymer-based material instead of tempered glass. This study focuses on the analysis of the optical and ultraviolet (UV) reliability properties of various lightweight polymer front sheets. The results show that the transmittance and UV properties of the front material are good. Moreover, a PV module with a polymer front sheet rather than glass was constructed, and a characteristic investigation as well as UV reliability test were performed. The transmittance of the polycarbonate (PC) front sheet decreased by only <3% and the module fabricated with PC exhibited only an approximately 6% power drop after the UV reliability test; hence, the PC is suitable for use in the PV module industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Photovoltaic Modules)
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11 pages, 6921 KiB  
Article
Reaction Kinetics Analysis of Treatment Process on Light-Induced Degradation for p-Type Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact Solar Cell Module with Gallium Cz-Si Wafer
by Min-Gwang Seok, Yangdo Kim and Soo Min Kim
Energies 2022, 15(10), 3563; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103563 - 12 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1710
Abstract
The light-induced degradation (LID) phenomenon in solar cells reduces power generation output. Previously, a method was developed to prevent LID where a group III impurity that can replace boron is added to the silicon wafer. However, in a subsequent study, performance degradation was [...] Read more.
The light-induced degradation (LID) phenomenon in solar cells reduces power generation output. Previously, a method was developed to prevent LID where a group III impurity that can replace boron is added to the silicon wafer. However, in a subsequent study, performance degradation was observed in gallium-doped solar wafers and cells, and a degradation pattern similar to that occurring in light and elevated temperature-induced degradation (LeTID) was reported. In this study, a 72-cell module was fabricated using gallium-doped PERC cells, and the treatment of the LID process for carrier injection in the range of 1 to 7 A at 130 °C was analyzed using kinetic theory. We selectively heated only the solar cells inside a 72-cell module using a half-bridge resonance circuit for remote heating. To monitor the treatment of LID process in real time, a custom multimeter manufactured using an ACS758 current sensor and a microcomputer was used. Least-squares curve fitting was performed on the measured data using a reaction kinetics model. When the carrier-injection condition was applied to the gallium-doped PERC solar cell module at a temperature of 130 °C, the observed degradation and treatment pattern were similar to LeTID. We assumed that the treatment rate would increase as the size of the injected carrier increased; however, the 5 A condition exhibited the fastest treatment rate. It was deduced that the major factors of change in the overall treatment of the LID process vary depending on the rate of conversion from the LID state to the treatment state. In conclusion, it can be expected that the deterioration state of the gallium-doped solar cell module changes due to the treatment rate that varies depending on the carrier-injection conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Photovoltaic Modules)
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Review

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21 pages, 6568 KiB  
Review
Techno-Economic Assessment of Half-Cell Modules for Desert Climates: An Overview on Power, Performance, Durability and Costs
by Hamed Hanifi, Bengt Jaeckel, Matthias Pander, David Dassler, Sagarika Kumar and Jens Schneider
Energies 2022, 15(9), 3219; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093219 - 28 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2986
Abstract
Photovoltaic modules in desert areas benefit from high irradiation levels but suffer from harsh environmental stress factors, which influence the Levelized Cost of Electricity by decreasing the lifetime and performance and increasing the maintenance costs. Using optimized half-cell module designs mounted in the [...] Read more.
Photovoltaic modules in desert areas benefit from high irradiation levels but suffer from harsh environmental stress factors, which influence the Levelized Cost of Electricity by decreasing the lifetime and performance and increasing the maintenance costs. Using optimized half-cell module designs mounted in the most efficient orientation according to the plant requirements can lead to reduced production costs, increased energy yield and longer service lives for PV modules in desert areas. In this work, we review the technical advantages of half-cell modules in desert regions and discuss the potential gains in levelized costs of electricity due to reduced material consumption, a higher cell-to-module power ratio, lower module temperatures, better yields, reduced cleaning cycles and finally, reduced fatigue in interconnection due to thermal cycling. We show that half-cell modules are the most cost-effective option for desert areas and are expected to have a relevant lower Levelized Cost of Electricity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Photovoltaic Modules)
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