Heat generation and mitigation in silicon solar cells and modules

Cost-effective photovoltaics (PVs) require a high energy yield with a long system lifetime. However, both are adversely affected by temperature. Here, we assess the economic impact of thermal effects on PV systems by establishing a temperature-dependent levelized cost of energy (LCOE) model. Using this model, we introduce an equivalent ratio (with the unit of absolute efficiency %/K) as a new metric that quantitatively translates the LCOE gain obtained by reducing the module temperature () to an equivalent absolute power conversion efficiency increase. The substantial value of motivates us to investigate the root causes of heating in solar cells and modules, with a focus on crystalline-Si (c-Si) PVs, given its market dominance. To link the heat analysis with , we establish and validate an opto-electronically coupled thermal model to predict . This modeling approach enables the quantification of possible ways to mitigate undesired heating effects.

Citation

Xu, L., Liu, W., Liu, H., Ke, C., Wang, M., Zhang, C., … De Wolf, S. (2021). Heat generation and mitigation in silicon solar cells and modules. Joule. doi:10.1016/j.joule.2021.01.012

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award no. OSR-CRG URF/1/3383 and funding from Saudi Aramco under grant no. RGC/3/3935-01. Authors acknowledge the discussion and help from Keith McIntosh from PVlighthouse and acknowledge the help on sample preparation and measurement from Hang Xu, Jingxuan Kang, Jiang Liu, and Michele De Bastiani from KSC, KAUST. The outdoor module performance measurement was supported by the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS). SERIS is sponsored by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore’s National Research Foundation (NRF) through the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). Figure 3A was produced by Xavier Pita, scientific illustrator at KAUST.