Failure analysis of design qualification testing: 2007 VS. 2005

The design/performance qualification testing is a set of well-defined accelerated stress tests with strict pass/fail criteria. ASU-PTL is an ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratory and has been providing photovoltaic testing services since 1992. This paper presents a failure analysis on the design qualification testing of both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and thin-film technologies for two consecutive periods: 1997–2005 & 2005–2007. In the first period, the industry was growing at a slower rate with traditional manufacturers and the qualification testing of c-Si technologies was primarily conducted per Edition 1 of IEC 61215 standard. In the second period, the industry was growing at an explosive rate with new manufacturers joining the traditional manufacturers and the qualification testing of c-Si was primarily conducted per Edition 2 of IEC 61215. Similar failure analysis according to IEC 61646 has been carried out for the thin-film technologies as well. The failure analysis of the test results presented in this paper indicates a large increase in the failure rates for both c-Si and thin-film technologies during the period of 2005–2007.