Understanding and Overcoming Water-induced Interfacial Degradation in Si Modules

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This project is developing a spatially-resolved characterization methodology to detect the location and amount of water present in photovoltaic (PV) modules and to model any predicted acceleration in performance degradation. The project team is examining the physical underpinnings of these effects by combining first-principles atomistic modeling of the segregation, diffusion, and chemical effects of interfacial water with continuum finite element method modeling of water distribution and its effects. Based on the resulting physical model of a module's water exposure over time and predicted changes in material properties and power output, the project team plans to develop statistical response surface models to predict a module′s hazard function.

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