Study of the long run field degradation of the flat plate photovoltaic module

Two major factors of the long-term field degradation of flat-plate photovoltaic (PV) modules are investigated: the increased lumped series resistance and the decreased short circuit. The increment in the lumped series resistance is due to the effect of corrosion of the metal and semiconductor interconnection region and metallic grid. The decrease in short-circuit current is due to change of the photostability and asymmetry scratching of the front glass of the PV module. These effects were introduced in the computer-simulated I-V equation of a solar cell in order to study the long-term field performance of a PV module. The validity of this approach was verified by a five-year field study of a PV module