PV Modules and Their Backsheets -- A Case Study of a Multi-MW PV Power Station

TL;DR

This study investigates how the composition and degradation of backsheets in PV modules affect power station performance, using combined field and lab methods to identify correlations and improve reliability.

Contribution

It introduces a novel on-site spectroscopic approach to analyze backsheets and links their composition to inverter performance issues in PV plants.

Findings

Heterogeneous backsheets observed across modules of same type.

Polyamide backsheets linked to lower inverter ground impedance.

Primer-based backsheets often appear healthy but can be degraded.

Abstract

Degradation of backsheets (BS) and encapsulant polymer components of silicon PV modules is recognized as one of the main reasons for losses in PV plant performance and lifetime expectations. Here, we report first insights into the correlation between BS composition of PV-modules and PV power station performance by using a combination of lab- and field-imaging, as well as spectroscopic and electrical characterizations. Using field-suitable near-infrared absorption (NIRA) spectroscopy, the BS structure of 518 PV-modules, 2.5 percent of the PV-modules in a 5 MWp PV power station, was identified on-site. The variance of the BS composition was found to be heterogeneous across PV-modules of the same power class from the same manufacturer. Polymaide-based BS cause in 10 out of 100 inverters ground impedance values below 400 kOhm, which is a typical threshold for inverters connecting to the grid. For primer-based BS this low value is reached 20 times. We conclude these numbers best as possible from the available monitoring data of inverters associated with BS-types from NIRA. Challenging is the identification of degraded primer-based BSs, since visually they look healthy and undistinguishable to well performing BSs. The present results demonstrate that a deeper understanding of the relationship between bill-of-materials and performance of PV-modules is necessary to avoid/minimize inverter shut-downs, and that it can be achieved by using combinations of selected field and lab characterization methods with monitoring data.