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The electrical ageing of photovoltaic modules during extended damp-heat tests at different stress levels is investigated for three types of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules with different backsheets, encapsulants and cell types. Deploying different stress levels allows determination of an equivalent stress dose function, which is a first step towards a lifetime prediction of devices. The derived humidity dose is used to characterise the degradation of power as well as that of the solar cell's equivalent circuit parameters calculated from measured current–voltage characteristics. An application of this to the samples demonstrates different modes in the degradation and thus enables better understanding of the module's underlying ageing mechanisms. The analysis of changes in the solar cell equivalent circuit parameters identified the primary contributors to the power degradation and distinguished the potential ageing mechanism for each types of module investigated in this paper. © 2016 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This work was supported in part by the European Commission under FP7 grant N° 262533 SOPHIA (INFRA-2010- 1.1.22_CP-CSA-Infra) and by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) under project ‘Stability and Performance of Photovoltaics (STAPP)’ (contract no: EP/H040331/1).

Abstract An efficient and environment-friendly process, consisting of acid-catalyzed sol-gel process combined with evaporation induced self-assembly, was conducted to build antireflective (AR) layer stacks for concentrated solar applications. Considering the external factors that may alter the optical properties of the system when operating outdoors, such as soiling, harsh climate conditions and alkali ions diffusion from glass, several stack configurations were proposed. Particularly, the effect of a methyl-silylating post-treatment, the presence of the inner layer and the optimization of sintering temperature have been devised in order to minimize soiling adherence and alkali diffusion from the glass substrate and to assure the required robustness to comply with the durability requirements. The assessment consisted of (i) an analysis of the optical transmittance, reflectance and refractive index and (ii) hydrophobicity and effect of water absorption on the external porous coatings in relation to the results of accelerated aging tests following photovoltaics standards. The main goal was to achieve the most rational design, based on a proper trade-off between cost efficiency, processability, optical properties and reliability during real life operation.

This paper studies a new innovative concrete with phase change materials (PCM) on thermal aspects. The final objective is to develop a product which would achieve important energy savings in buildings. The work here presented is the construction and experimental installation of two real size concrete cubicles to study the effect of the inclusion of a PCM with a melting point of 26 °C. The cubicles were constructed in the locality of Puigverd of Lleida (Spain). The results of this study show the energy storage in the walls by encapsulating PCMs and the comparison with conventional concrete without PCMs leading to an improved thermal inertia as well as lower inner temperatures.

Silica multi-layer stacks have been designed with the aim to provide broadband antireflective (AR) properties for glass components in concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) application. Silica porous coatings were grown by combining acid-catalyzed sol-gel route and evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) method with four types of organic/inorganic systems. Sols were prepared using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as inorganic precursor assembled with two di-block copolymers, one tri-block copolymer and one cationic surfactant as organic templates. Optical properties were characterized by ellipsometry and spectrophotometry while the material structure was analyzed by environmental ellipsometric porosimetry (EEP) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The concentration of inorganic and organic phases was optimized and a broadband AR bi-layer stack was obtained providing a 7.2% (under the reference AM1.5 solar spectral irradiance) increase in transmittance over bare glass in the wavelength range 300–2000 nm when coated on both sides. This work was supported by the Basque Government for EMAITEK 2017 program as well as the ELKARTEK projects FRONTIERS-2 (Contract no. KK2016-00093 ) and FRONTIERS-3 (Contract no. KK2017-00096 ) This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme within the project CPVMatch under Grant agreement no. 640873 . The authors are solely responsible for the content of this work and it only reflects the author's view. The authors thank ICV-CSIC, Yolanda Castro and Alicia Durán for ellipsometry and EEP measurements.

Photovoltaic (PV) modules, operate at high voltages and elevated temperatures, and are known to degrade because of leakage current to ground. Related degradation processes may include: electric/ionic corrosion, electrochemical deposition, electromigration, and/or charge build-up in thin layers. The use of polymeric materials with a high resistivity is known to reduce the rate of potential induced degradation processes. Because of this, PV materials suppliers are placing increased importance on the encapsulant bulk resistivity, but there is no universally accepted method for making this measurement. The development of a resistivity test standard is described in this paper. We have performed a number of exploratory and round-robin tests to establish a representative and reproducible method for determining the bulk resistivity of polymeric materials, including encapsulation, backsheet, edge seals, and adhesives. The duration of measurement has been shown to greatly affect the results, e.g., an increase as great as 100X was seen for different measurement times. The standard has been developed using measurements alternating between an "on" and "off" voltage state with a weighted averaging function and cycle times of an hour.

Abstract The present work aims encapsulating photovoltaic cells in glass reinforced epoxy composite by vacuum resin infusion, incorporating additives directed to enhance the performance stability of the manufactured photovoltaic modules under ultraviolet (UV) exposure. UV absorber (UVA) and hindered amine light stabilizer (HALS) additives were incorporated in the resin system in different content. Photovoltaic performance and stability under UV radiation exposure were studied through external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectra, chromatic coordinates and short-circuit current values. Decrease in current values and increase in yellowness were observed in the presence of UVA and HALS. However, an enhanced performance stability was observed when additives are incorporated, improving the stability when increasing the additive amount. The most stable module, with cells embedded in 2% additive containing composite, showed a 2.7% short-circuit current loss after UV aging exposure.

AbstractIn the field of hybrid photovoltaic cell technology, the present work aims studying titanium dioxide layers with ordered nanostructure and poly-3-methylthiophene (P3MT) films in-situ electropolymerized onto them. Nanotube arrays were synthesized by anodization technique using a wide range of process conditions, and the dimensions and morphology of the obtained nanotubes were thoroughly analyzed. This study allowed tailoring the nanotube dimensions as requested by the final application. In this case, arrays with low thickness and large pore diameter, obtained in the acidic water based electrolyte, were selected to carry out further electropolymerization onto them. The nanotube pore diameter was identified as the dominant parameter influencing the P3MT layer thickness. The P3MT layers with the lowest thickness were obtained onto the less porous morphologies with low nanopore diameter values.