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Quality testing for PV-modules according to standards and performance

control for supporting manufacturing

Article · July 2004

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 19th EUPVSEC, 7-11 June 2004, Paris, France

Quality testing for PV-modules according to standards and performance control for
supporting manufacturing

Stefan Mau, Thomas Krametz, Wolfgang Jahna, Hubert Fechner

arsenal research, Business Unit Renewable Energy Technologies
Faradaygasse 3, A 1030 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43-50550-6652, fax: +43-50550-6390
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
As a consequence of the ongoing growth of the PV-market cost-effectiveness of PV-systems is increasingly gaining
importance. Investors often draw more attention on the profitability of the investment than on ecological reasons. The main
parameters which affect the investment’s profitability are capital cost, compensation and economic life-time of the system
components. For PV-systems around 70 % of the capital costs are related to the PV-modules [1]. Therefore the pay back time
of the whole system is mainly determined by the initial power output, power degradation and the lifetime of the module.
Guaranteed, certified quality of PV-modules is a fundamental requirement which provides the basis for the profitability and
security of the investment.
Actually PV-modules consisting of crystalline silicon solar cells are certified according to the international standard EN/IEC
61215. This standard specifies a series of procedures with the aim to examine the impact of mechanical, thermal and
electrical stress on the power output and lifetime of PV-modules. Qualification a module type to these procedures indicates
that it will be suitable for long-term operation under normal environmental conditions. As an accredited center for research
and testing, arsenal research has more than 15 years experience with qualification testing and development of components for
solar systems as well as various electro technical components.. In 2003 the scope of the accreditation was extended and since
then arsenal is officially accredited to qualify PV-modules according to the requirements of EN/IEC 61215.

Keywords: Qualification testing, performance testing, quality assurance, PV-module, EN/IEC 61215

1. Introduction ISC to UOC or reverse. However, with larger cell areas or

particular cell types capacitances increase and negatively
The qualification testing procedures defined in the influence the accuracy of the measurement. In such cases
EN/IEC 61215 aim to characterize the module before and the I-V curve is determined in several parts by using the
after being exposed to different types of stress. This is multi-flash principle to increase the overall measure time.
done by a visual inspection, testing of insulation and Thus it is possible to evaluate the performance of all
measuring of performance of PV-modules. To pass the commercially available PV-modules based on crystalline
test the modules have to meet the following criteria: silicon solar cells. During the measurement the temporal
• No visible evidence of major defects that may affect instability of the irradiance is better than 2 % at an
the performance of the module average irradiance of about 950 W/m². After the
measurement the I-V-curve is converted to 1000 W/m²
• Insulation resistance not less than 50 MΩ at 500 V d.c. according to the procedure defined in IEC 60891. The
uniformity of the irradiance over the maximum
• Degradation of performance may not exceed 5 % after illumination area (1.80 m x 1.60 m) is better than 6 W/m²
each single test or 8 % after the whole sequence and fulfils the specified values of EN/IEC 60904-9 for
The performance of PV-modules is generally evaluated at simulator class A, determined with a 5” reference cell.
Standard-Test-Conditions (STC) at a cell temperature of The standard deviation of the ISC of a typical module with
25 °C, irradiance of 1000 W/m² and with the EN/IEC 66 5” cells connected in series (rated ISC 4.8 A) at
60904-3 reference solar spectral irradiance distribution. different positions of the illumination area was less than 9
mA, which means an accuracy of better than 0.2 %. The
measured ISC is well correlated to the average (and not to
2. Testing infrastructure at arsenal research the minimum) irradiance within the module area at the
respective position.
Arsenal research uses outdoor and indoor test facilities to
measure the performance of PV-modules. The indoor
The intention of the stress tests defined in the EN/IEC
facility consists of a Xenon-flasher-simulator, different
61215 is to demonstrate that the PV-module is capable of
electronic loads and an air-conditioner to ensure the
withstanding the environmental impacts during its
module temperature to be 25 °C. The advantage of flash-
lifetime of about 25 years.
simulators in comparison with steady-state-simulators is
The main influences are:
that cell temperature is not influenced by the exposure,
which takes about 10 ms, and can be well controlled • High temperatures and humidity
during the measurement. Within this time the whole I-V-
curve of the PV-module is registered alternatively from • Extreme thermal fluctuations
 19th EUPVSEC, 7-11 June 2004, Paris, France

• Ultraviolet radiation 3. The first year of PV module testing

• Hailstones During the first year of activity in module qualification

testing, arsenal research has tested different types of
To simulate the long term penetration of humidity the
modules including standard laminates, insulation glass
modules are exposed to 85 °C and 85 % relative humidity
and roof-tile modules. During the testing activities,
for 1000 h. Extreme thermal fluctuations are simulated by
various problems regarding e.g. soldering junctions, the
altering the module temperature from 85 °C down to –
encapsulation process or the frame construction were
40°C and back within less than 6 hours. Module
identified and the manufacturers were provided with
temperature and humidity are recorded during the whole
quick and comprehensive support.
climatic test-sequence.
One difficulty for example was the use of a special
The dimensions of the climate chambers available for
polymer for fixing the glass-EVA-glass laminate on a
these tests are sufficient for a maximum PV-module size
special substructure. As humidity is often stated to have
of 1.80 m x 1.60 m.
significant influence on the properties of the
The test setup to simulate the impact of hailstones is encapsulation material we chose the damp-heat procedure
shown in figure 1. In the background you can see the PV- for testing the laminates [2]. Being exposed to 85 °C / 85
module under test. With the help of a pneumatic launcher % RH the polymer began to react with the EVA resulting
ice-balls with a weight of about 7.5 g and a diameter of in a visible yellowing of the EVA. Apart from the
25 mm are fired on several previously marked spots. The noticeable visual effect, also a slight decrease of the ISC
locations are selected with respect to areas which are by 2 % was measured. Thereupon the polymer was
sensitive to the impact of hail stones, as e.g. at corners or changed and since then the problems could not be
over edges of cells. In the foreground on the right you can observed any more.
see the ice-ball launcher that accelerates the ice-balls to a
Another remarkable result was obtained from the hot-spot
velocity of 23 m/s using compressed air. On the left you
test of a glass-EVA-Tedlar laminate with 88 cells
see the “radar gun” used to measure the velocity of the
connected in series with only a single bypass diode. The
ice-balls.
test was performed in natural sunlight at an irradiance of
about 1000 W/m². The ambient temperature was 23 °C
and the wind speed less than 2 m/s. In a first step the
solar cell with the lowest ISC was determined by short-
circuiting the module and identifying the hottest cell with
the help of an infrared camera. Under such conditions the
weakest cell (with the lowest ISC) is forced into reverse
bias and dissipates the power generated by the other cells.
In the second step this cell was completely shaded and
the temperature of the back side of the PV-module was
observed with the infrared camera. The temperature of
the shadowed cell rapidly increased. Figure 2 shows the
temperature distribution of the back-sheet behind the
shaded cell after an exposure time of 40 min. The
temperature of the Tedlar back-sheet rose up to 170 °C
whereas the temperature of the rest of the module back
remained constant at about 55 °C. Because of the thermal
insulation effect of the back sheet laminate and the EVA
encapsulation it can be expected that the actual cell
temperature was even higher.

Figure 1: Test facility to simulate the impact of

hailstones on PV-modules

Apart from various fixed structures used for long term

exposure testing, the outdoor test facilities include an
automatic two-axis solar tracker with an area of 4 m x
3 m. For performance measurements of PV-modules or
extended outdoor-tests including the determination of the
Nominal Operating Cell Temperature (NOCT), hot-spot
endurance or for the calibration of cells and modules,
module and ambient temperatures, global and diffuse
irradiance as well as the I-V-curves are recorded with an
automatic monitoring system. Figure 2: Temperature distribution of the back side of
a module during hot-spot endurance test
 19th EUPVSEC, 7-11 June 2004, Paris, France

After one hour the whole module was shaded again and performance measurement revealed that the maximum
the respective area was visually inspected. power and the ISC of the whole module decreased less
than 2 %.
Figure 3 shows some of the effects caused by this
extreme over-heating. 4. Conclusions
To meet the increasing demand of manufacturers of PV
components for research and development support as
well as qualification and certification services arsenal
research has recently complemented its solar testing
facilities. Besides testing of solar thermal collectors and
PV inverters now also accredited qualification and
3 cm certification testing of PV-modules according to the
EN/IEC 61215 standard is offered at the arsenal solar test
centre. In the paper the available test infrastructure
including a flash-simulator, various climatic chambers,
and outdoor facilities is presented.
Some of the effects observed during the first year of the
module testing are described in detail and give an
overview on typical problems which can occur during the
EN/IEC 61215 qualification test sequence.
Due to our fast and accurate realisation of individual test
5 cm procedures several problems of module prototypes were
identified at an early stage of the development. Based on
the results materials and process parameters could be
improved and helped to ensure quality and long-term
reliability of the final product.
In the mean time the first newly developed module
family has passed the whole qualification sequence and
Figure 3: Front (above) and back (below) of the has received the qualification certificate according to
shaded cell after hot-spot endurance test. The EN/IEC 61215.
blue marks indicate the edge of the cell. The
red arrow indicates a local defect caused by
the decomposition of the cell’s anti-
reflection coating [1] U. Jahn. P., „Photovoltaik-Anlagen – Bewährung und
Herausforderung“, Forschungsverbund Sonnenenergie
The red arrow in figure 3 marks a local defect of the Themen 2003, p. 28-35.
shaded solar cell resulting from a decomposition of the [2] J. H. Wohlgemuth, „Long Term Photovoltaic Module
anti-reflection coating which also led to a small Reliability“, NCPV and solar program review meeting
delamination of the EVA in that area as well as near to 2003
the border of the solar cell. Furthermore a large
delamination bubble was observed on the backside. The
delamination is probably caused by the decomposition of
the EVA due to the high temperatures. Although the
effects were clearly visible, the performance of the
module was not significantly affected. The subsequent

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