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 Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Degradation of mono-crystalline photovoltaic modules after 22 years of

outdoor exposure in the composite climate of India
Pramod Rajput a,⇑, G.N. Tiwari a, O.S. Sastry b, Birinchi Bora b, Vikrant Sharma b
a
Center for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz khas, New Delhi 110016, India
b
National Institute of Solar Energy, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, New Delhi 110003, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The understanding of degradation modes and mechanism is very important in order to ensure the life-
Received 15 December 2015 time of 25–30 years of PV modules. In the present study, degradation analysis of 90 mono-crystalline sil-
Received in revised form 7 June 2016 icon PV modules installed on the rooftop of the guest house of National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE),
Accepted 19 June 2016
Gurgaon has been carried out after 22 years of outdoor operation in a composite climate of India. A com-
prehensive analysis has been carried out through visual inspection, thermal imaging, I-V characteristic
and insulation resistance measurement as well as rate of degradation has been calculated. The defects
Keywords:
in bus bar, cell inter-connection ribbon, string inter-connection ribbon and chalking in back-sheet are
Mono-crystalline
Degradation
found to be most frequently observed defects. Hot spot in solar cell, burn mark and delamination in
Reliability back-sheet are also observed in some PV modules. The average power degradation rate of 90 PV modules
IR thermography over period of 22 years has been found to be about 1.9%/year with maximum rate of power degradation
Insulation resistance 4.1%/year and minimum is 0.3%/year. Insulation resistance measurement of all the modules both in dry
and wet condition showed that only 9 modules have shown insulation resistance <400 MX. The study
addresses the degradation mechanism in order to assess the safety issues related to the large scale PV
plants in Indian climatic condition.
Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Converting Sun light to electricity using Photovoltaic (PV) tech-
nology is one of the most promising ways to achieve the rapidly
increasing global electricity demand with pollution free environ-
ment. Photovoltaic industry has grown at an extraordinary pace
in the past two decades. PV industry has grown from few MW to
183 GW installed PV capacity as on 07 December, 2015 worldwide
(FISE, 2015). The PV system installation in India has increased after
the launching of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
by Government of India in December 2009 (Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission, 2010). The installed capacity of PV system
in the country till March 2015 is 4.86 GW (MNRE, 2015). At pre-
sent, the main challenge faced by PV industry is to make PV gener-
ated electricity cost effective. In this context long term
performance and reliability of PV module is of utmost importance.
The long term reliability of PV modules is assessed through quali-
fication standards developed by International Electro-technical
Commission (IEC). These tests have helped a lot the PV industry
to identify/eliminate the infant failure and ensure the quality of
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pramodraj.rajput3@gmail.com (P. Rajput).
PV module. There are reports that qualified modules have survived
for more than 20 years (Polverini et al., 2013). At the same time
there are reports that even the well qualified modules have failed
or degraded more than their expected levels (Sastry et al., 2010).
Therefore it is now broadly thought that present qualification stan-
dards are not adequately addressing the actual outdoor conditions.
Therefore it is important to study the behavior of PV modules in
actual outdoor conditions to understand their performance, gener-
ation and growth of defects for their long term reliability.
The long-term reliability of the PV module can be studied from
the degradation mechanism in outdoor operating conditions. The
reliability issue and performance degradation may be caused by
packaging materials, semiconductor degradation, solar cell inter-
connection, adhesion losses (Quintana et al., 2002; Shrestha
et al., 2014). Som and Al-Alawai (1992), have studied an effect of
degradation on (i) mono-crystalline silicon based PV modules
and (ii) multi-crystalline silicon based PV modules. They observed
that mono-crystalline PV modules degraded fast in comparison to
multi-crystalline in one year due to severe corrosion. The correla-
tion of the visual defects and the shifts in the electrical parameters
was analyzed by Sanchez-Friera et al. (2011). Further it was
reported that glass weathering, delamination at the cell-EVA
interface and oxidation of the antireflective coating and the cell

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.06.047
0038-092X/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795
Nomenclature
I current (A)
V voltage (V)
P power (W)
Ps net present cost, Rs
n number of years
F CR;i;n capital recovery factor
F SR;i;n sinking fund factor
i Rate of interest, %
Abbreviation
PV photovoltaic module
EVA ethyl vinyl acetate
HIT hetro junction intrinsic thin layer
c-Si crystalline silicon
Mono-C-Si mono crystalline silicon
MPPT Maximum power point tracking
STC standard test condition
IEC International Electro technical Commission
metallization grid were the most frequently occurring defects.
Sakamoto and Oshiro (2003) found 0.5%/year power degradation
in c-Si PV modules after 10 years outdoor exposure. They have con-
cluded that reason behind it is delamination between cell and EVA
and metallization of solder bond. Kuitche et al. (2014), found that
the solder bond failure and encapsulate discoloration are dominant
failure modes of crystalline silicon PV module under hot desert cli-
matic condition. Typical performance losses in large field deployed,
large-scale system ranging from 1% to 10%/year are given quantita-
tively, and qualitative reports of EVA discoloration are summarized
with respect to ultraviolet world-wide location and site depen-
dence (Czanderna and Pern, 1996). Tamizhmani and Kuitche
(2014), explained the different failure mode, failure causes and
failure mechanism of PV module for different climatic conditions.
The average peak power decay/year in composite climate has been
found to be 14.6% in a-Si array modules, 1.7% in poly-C-Si array
modules and 1.5% in the HIT array modules respectively, which
corresponds to loss in either short circuit current or fill factor or
both (Sharma et al., 2013). Polverini et al. (2013), reported 4.42%
an average performance decay of 70 polycrystalline silicon PV
modules installed in the Ispra, Northern Italy after 20 years out-
door exposure. Alshushan and Saleh (2013), reported that after
30 years, the average peak power degradation of crystalline silicon
PV modules were found to be 13.86% of initial value for the mod-
ules installed in Libya. Dunlop and Halton (2006) studied the per-
formance of 40 crystalline silicon (mono and multi) PV modules
after 20–22 years field exposure. They concluded that module
encapsulated with EVA and a Tedlar aluminum back sheet exhib-
ited 14.8% mean power degradation while module with encapsu-
lated silicon sealant showed average power degradation of 6.4%.
Realini et al. (2001), reported 0.5%/year power degradation of
10 kW PV system of c-Si PV modules installed at Lugano, Switzer-
land after 21 years operation. Ndiaye et al. (2014), reported that
after few years operation of c-Si PV module in tropical climate
Dakar, Senegal, the highest loss in the maximum power output
was 0.22%/year to 2.96%/year. However, the open-circuit voltage
was not degraded. Oxidation of the antireflective coating, cell met-
allization grid, glass weathering and delamination at the cell-EVA
interface were found to be most frequently occurring defects. The
11.5% degradation was found in peak power which was totally
due to the short circuit current (Jordan and Kurtz, 2013).
787
JNNSM Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
MNRE Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
IR infrared
UAC uniform end of annual cost, Rs
Subscript
sc short circuit
oc open circuit
Max maximum power point at reference value
ARC alternate reporting condition
MP maximum power point
M PV module
T tilted surface
Greek letters
b temperature coefficient
Study about the degradation of PV module in real outdoor con-
dition in India is not very much prominent because of lack of com-
prehensive performance information. The degradation mechanism
depends upon the operating environmental condition. India has six
different climatic zones, therefore analysis of degradation mecha-
nisms throughout the country are very difficult task (Grid
Interactive Solar Power, 2013). Sastry et al. (2010), has reported
about the performance degradation of mono-C-Si in Indian climate
after 12 years of outdoor exposure for the modules manufactured
by 11 different Indian manufactures. They have reported that 5–
16.5% degradation was found to be in output power in those mod-
ules whose module qualified under IEC 61215 standards after
10 years. 17–33% degradation was found to be in output power
in those modules whose module not qualified under IEC 61215
standards after 10 years.
The previous studies revealed that even the well qualified mod-
ules have failed or degraded more than the expected levels and
suggested that there is a need to review the PV qualification stan-
dards especially for Indian climatic conditions. Chandel et al.
(2015) reported that after 28 years outdoor exposure of mono-C-
Si PV modules for western Himalayan region of Indian climate that
have 1.4%/year average power degradation for PV generator. It is
due to encapsulate discoloration, delamination and oxidation of
front grid finger, anti-reflecting coating and bubbles in back-sheet.
The main focus of the study is on the defects observed in a roof
mounted PV system under composite climatic conditions which
are reported and will be useful for the current studies being under-
taken to identify various defects under Indian climatic conditions
and are going to provide valuable inputs for any modifications in
IEC standards which are being considered seriously. The results
presented in this study are of significance in this context of quality
and problems faced in field installed PV modules as such the
results are of importance for further follow up. Also such degrada-
tion studies have not carried in detail in different parts of India
except at location in Gurgaon at the Solar Energy Centre now
named as National Institute of Solar Energy. Further PV industry
has started finding applications worldwide in all climatic zones
with various configurations. Efforts are underway toward making
qualification tests more quantitative by creating a comparative rat-
ing system for various conditions encountered by the PV module in
the field worldwide Keeping in view this there is a need to have
788 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795

information on field performance and degradation of PV modules

from various climatic regions, so that enough details are available
to provide quantitative predictions of field performance and ser-
vice life. As suggested extension of such studies to different cli-
matic regions in India is also underway as a Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy, Govt of India Programme for which All India
Survey of PV degradation has been carried out (Dubey et al.,
2013). A comparison of the present study with the other significant
studies as suggested is also provided in Table 1.
In the present study, the degradation analysis of mono-C-Si PV
module has been carried out after 22 year of outdoor exposure in
composite climate of India. The main objective of the work is to
present the results of performance and degradation of PV modules
which have undergone through almost its expected life span of
20 years. A comprehensive test campaign was conducted by I-V
characteristic measurement, visual inspection, thermal imaging,
and insulation resistance in real outdoor condition. The analysis
about the different failure modes in terms of safety and power Fig. 1. Photograph of part of the power plant at NISE, Gurgaon, India.
degradation has also been done for the same climatic zone. Degra-
dation and failure studies of PV modules are also important for the
successful implementation of JNNSM. Therefore, the large scale
deployment of solar PV module it will be better to know its failure Table 2
Specification of representative modules.
modes which will be beneficial to the customer as well as the
manufacture. PV module Specifications
The paper is organized as follows: Experimental set up details Type of material Mono crystalline silicon
are given in Section 2. In Section 3 degradation analysis methodol- Area of PV module 0.45 m2
ogy followed in the present study is described. The result and dis- Area of solar cell 95 cm2
Number of solar cells in a module 36 nos.
cussion is presented in Section 4. The conclusions are drawn in
Maximum power (Pmax) 40 Wp
Section 5. Maximum power voltage (Vmax) 16.2 V
Maximum power current (Imax) 2.47 A
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 21.1 V
2. Experimental setup Short circuit current (Isc) 2.70 A
Fill factor 70%
A 3.6 kWp PV system was installed on the rooftop of the guest
house of National Institute of Solar Energy (formerly known as
Solar Energy Center (SEC)), Gurgaon (Latitude 28°370 N, Longitude
specification of the representative modules of mono-C-Si technol-
77°040 E) India in 1992 as shown in Fig. 1. The site is having the
ogy are given in the Table 2.
composite climate with monthly average ambient temperature
varying from 11 to 35 °C and monthly global horizontal solar radi-
ation varying from 2.6 to 6.1 kW h/m2- day. The wind speed at the 3. Methodology
location has annual average of 1.5 m/sec and relative humidity
remaining less than 90% throughout the year. The degradation analysis of individual PV module has been
The 3.6 kWp PV system consists of 90 mono-C-Si technology investigated through the following procedure:
modules with nominal power 40Wp inclined at a fixed tilt of 28°
on the aluminum support structure. Each array consists of 10 mod-  Visual inspection
ules connected in series and 9 such strings are connected in paral-  Thermal imaging
lel. The output of the PV array used to charge the battery bank of  I-V characteristic of all modules in outdoor operation
300 A h and 120 V through 4 kW solar inverter with inbuilt MPPT  Insulation resistance of all modules in dry and wet condition
and Charge-controller. The output of the solar inverter is then  Cost analysis
used to cater the lighting load and fans of the guest house. The

Table 1
Highlights of some of relevant PV module field degradation studies.

S. Location Type of PV Duration of outdoor Degradation rate Comments Reference

no. technologies studied exposure (%/year)
1 Lugano c-Si 20 years 0.53 Hot spot and encapsulant delamination Realini et al.
(Switzerland) (2001)
2 Ispra (Italy) c-Si 22 years 0.3 Solar cell discoloration, delamination etc. Dunlop and Halton
(2006)
3 Ma’laga c-Si 12 years 0.7 Soiling of glass, oxidation of the front metallization Sanchez-Friera
(Spain) grid, etc. et al. (2011)
4 Hamastu c-Si 10 years 0.6–1.0 Tempered glass fracture, delamination, etc. Sakamoto and
(Japan) Oshiro (2003)
5 Hamirpur c-Si 28 years 1.4 Delamination of encapsulant, oxidation of front grid Chandel et al.
(India) metal fingers, etc. (2015)
6 Gurgaon c-Si 22 years 1.9 Corrosion of busbar, cell interconnection ribbon and Present study
(India) string interconnection ribbon
 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795
3.1. Visual inspection
A detailed list of various types of visual defects after long time
continuous outdoor exposure was presented by Packard et al.
(2012). All the 90 modules underwent the visual inspection. During
the study, we have followed Packard et al. (2012) for collection of
visual defects data of all PV modules with photographs. In visual
inspection, as shown in Fig. 2 some aspects of the PV module per-
formance are badly affected. The visual inspection data are ana-
lyzed by the IEC 61215 (IEC 61215, 2005), standards. As per IEC
61215, PV module design quality can be judged against a prede-
fined set of pass criteria, (Hotspot, Bubbles, delamination and
cracked cells). The same approaches were used to analyzing the
data related to the PV modules for long-term outdoor exposure.
Figs. 2(a)–(d) shows the visual defects generated in PV modules
such as corrosion of string inter-connection ribbon, and cell
inter-connection ribbon, EVA discoloration and bubbles in back-
sheet. In the present study, we have taken percentage of defects
viz. (0–5, 6–25, 25–50 and 50–75) with respect to total area of
the module.
3.2. IR thermography inspection
Thermal imaging technique plays an important role to identify
the defects which are not visible to naked eye e.g. generation of
hot spots. In PV modules due to poor contact between the solar
cells, heating occurs therefore IR thermography inspection which
is based on joule heating effect i2.rt was chosen to find hot spots
in PV modules. This heat generation happens when any solar cell
in the module becomes reverse biased due to damage or shade.
The illuminated (outdoor) thermography measurements are per-
formed on a sunny day, with minimum irradiation level of
800 W/m2 at the PV module array surface using EasIR–4000 Ther-
mal imager. In order to avoid error in measurement the angle of
view is set as close as possible to 90°, the ambient temperature
and wind speed was low at the time of measurement.
Fig. 2. (a) Corrosion in string inter-connection ribbon. (b) Corrosion in cell inter-connection ribbon. (c) EVA discoloration. (d) Bubbles in back-sheet.
789
The infrared image has been taken after defined interval of
60 sec. The IR image gives information about the increase in the
temperature of affected area and its location within the module.
3.3. Electrical analysis
I-V characteristics of individual module were measured at
intensity above 800 W/m2 using Solar Amprobe 4000 between
11:00 and 13:00 to avoid the spectral and angle of incidence effect.
The measured I-V characteristic data are extrapolated to standard
test condition (STC) i.e. 1000 W/m2 solar irradiance and 25 °C mod-
ule temperature, using translation equations as given by (IEC
60891, 2009; Rawat et al., 2016).
V MP;ARC ¼ V MP þ bV ðT ARC  T M Þ ð1Þ
 
GARC
IMP;ARC ¼ IMP þ bI ðT ARC  T M Þ ð2Þ
GT
PMP;ARC ¼ V MP;ARc  IMP;ARC ð3Þ
The values of temperature coefficients depend only on the PV
module technology. Furthermore, the coefficients do not stay con-
stant over 22 years. Makrides et al. (2009) calculated the tempera-
ture coefficient for 13 different technologies in real outdoor
conditions at Germany and Cyprus. Further, Virtuani et al. (2010)
estimated the temperature coefficients of open circuit voltage
has been found to be 0.33%/°C, 0.33%/°C, 0.24%/°C and
0.31%/°C for mono-C-Si, a-Si, CdTe and CIGS respectively. Simi-
larly, temperature coefficients of short circuit current has been
found to be +0.06%/°C, +0.12%/°C, +0.04%/°C and +0.02%/°C for the
same at standard test condition.
In the present analysis, temperature coefficients of voltage and
current are 0.11/°C and 1.66/°C respectively.
Prior to I-V measurement all the PV modules underwent a
cleaning procedure in order to remove the dust accumulated on
the front glass. The percentage degradation rates of the various
790 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795

electrical parameters like output power (Pmax), short-circuit cur-

rent (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) are calculated
with respect to the name plate rating of the representative module
provided by the manufacturer using the following formula
(Phinikarides et al., 2014)
Initial data  Final data
Rate of DegradationðRd Þ ¼  100 ð4Þ
Final data
In the present analysis, degradation in power, short circuit cur-
rent and open circuit voltage has been normalized over the period
of 22 Years operation (%degradation/year). We have assumed the
degradation to be linear with time for the monitored period. In
the present analysis only two time points of observation viz. during
the period of panel installation and after 22 years has been carried
out.

3.4. Insulation resistance

Safety is one of the important aspects while working in the field

of electrical power generation. Safety issues in case of PV modules
are addressed through electrical insulation resistance test as per
IEC 61215 (IEC 61215, 2005) standards. The insulation resistance
test of all the 90 mono-C-Si PV modules was carried out using insu-
Fig. 3. Visual inspection results.
lation resistance tester Fluke-1550C. The insulation test requires
that there must not be dielectric breakdown or shorting during
the application of voltage. The test was done at 600 V given by are major one such as corrosion in bus-bar, cell inter-connection
insulation resistance tester to PV modules. All modules were tested ribbon and string inter-connection ribbon. It is due to moisture
under two conditions namely dry surfaces and the wet surface of and atmospheric gases ingress either through back-sheet or front
the modules. The positive and negative terminals were shorted surface of the PV module. Bubbles in back-sheet take place in 71
and the insulation testing was done with respect to the frame of PV modules, it mainly occurs due to high humidity. Burn marks
the module. in back-sheet was observed in 13 PV modules due to reverse cur-
rent causes heating. It further localizes the current flow, leading
3.5. Cost analysis to a thermal runway affect and the associated burn mark. Distor-
tion in module frame was found in 9 PV modules, this may be
The annualized uniform cost analysis of the PV system is calcu- due to the thermal cycling and fatigue of the metallic frame.
lated lasting for n years using formulae given by (Tiwari and
Ghosal, 2005).
4.2. IR thermography inspection
UAC ¼ Ps  F CR;i;n þ Ms  F CR;i;n þ Rr;5  F CR;i;n þ Rr;10  F CR;i;n
þ     Ss  F SR;i;n ð5Þ Fig. 4a shows the Visual and IR image of PV module without hot
spot. Out of 90 modules, 37 modules were having hot spots. 15
Here Ps , Ss , M s and Rr;5 , are the net present cost, salvage value, modules showed one hot spot Fig. 4b, 12 modules showed two
maintenance cost of the PV system and battery replacement cost
in every five years. F CR;i;n and F SR;i;n are the capital recovery and
sinking fund factors, respectively, and are given by
n
i  ð1 þ iÞ i
F CR;i;n ¼ n and F SR;i;n ¼ n ð6Þ
ð1 þ iÞ ð1 þ iÞ  1
The cost for per unit electric energy production by PV system is
evaluated by
Unacost
Unit electrical generation cost ¼ ð7Þ
Annual Electrical Energy

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Visual inspection

Fig. 3 shows the occurrence of different defects in terms of

number of PV modules. For the same defect occurred in multiple
position of a single PV module, was considered to be one defect
for purpose of present study. Chalking of back-sheet, Bus-bar, cell
inter-connection ribbon and string inter-connection ribbon corro-
sion were the common defects observed in almost all the modules.
Delamination in back-sheet occurred due to moisture ingress and Fig. 4a. Visual and IR Image of module showing higher temp observed near the
humidity, it has found in 11 PV modules. However some defects frame.
 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795
Fig. 4b. IR image of module with one hot spot.
Fig. 4c. IR image of module with four hot spots.
hot spots, and 9 modules showed three hot spots and 1 module
showed 4 hot spot Fig. 4c. It has been observed that during exper-
iment the temperature of all modules near metallic frame was 3–
4 °C higher than the other area of module as shown in Fig. 4a.
Due to the enhancement of the area in 4 hot spot case, leakage cur-
rent is lower than in case of 1 hot spot. Therefore, temperature is
also lower in 4 hot spot case (Wendlandt et al., 2010).
Hot spot occurs in PV modules due to thermal expansion/con-
traction of interconnection, shadowing, faulty cell and low resis-
tance cell resulting decrease in Isc and power. Fig. 5 shows the
variation of daily average power (Wp) vs number of hot spot. As
the daily average power increases with decrease in number of
hot spots. The range of the power degradation was 0.29%/year for
no hot spot and 2.16%/year for 4 hot spot and total power degradation
Fig. 5. The variation of daily average power vs number of hot spot.
791
after 22 years outdoor exposure was 6.38% for no hot spot and
47.52% for 4 hot spot. As number of hot spot increases the area cov-
ered by the hot spot also increases.
4.3. Degradation analysis of electrical parameters
Fig. 6 shows the effect of degradation over period of 22 years on
Isc, Voc, FF and Power. This indicates that there is degradation of Isc
from 0.4% to 3.7% with an average value 1.8%/year. The average
value of Voc degradation rate is 1.4%/year and FF ranges from
0.7% to 2.6% with an average value of 1%/year. The power degrada-
tion rate ranges from 0.3% to 4.1% with an average value of
1.9%/year. The degradation in power output is mainly due to the
degradation in the Isc.
4.4. Insulation resistance
The effect of different defects was considered as per the safety
and performance issues concern, which is termed as severity. In
a PV power plant main problem relating to safety issues are arises
due to decrease in insulation resistance. With the decrease in insu-
lation resistance the leakage current increases and hence it is a
serious safety hazards. Fig. 7 shows the insulation resistance of
all the 90 PV modules in wet and dry condition. In all samples of
these PV modules only two PV modules has insulation resistance
<400 MX in dry condition and 7 PV modules in wet condition.
The ideal resistance of any module is 400 MX per square meter
(as per IEC 61215 module qualification standard) both in dry and
wet condition. In both conditions (dry and wet surface) the insula-
tion resistance of the PV modules was found greater than 400 MX.
The insulation resistance range of the dry PV module was found to
be in the range of 2–86,600 MX as shown in Fig. 7.
It is clear from the Fig. 7, most of the modules lie in the range
200–400 MX in the wet condition. While in Dry condition the
range is 300–600 MX. At low insulation resistance the highest
leakage current in wet test condition was found to be 33 lA,
whereas for dry test condition the highest value of leakage current
was 3.9 lA.
4.5. Electrical degradation correlated with visual degradation
The electrical degradation has been studied by estimating the
degradation in electrical parameters such as power degradation,
degradation of Isc, Voc and FF in all the modules. For the detailed
analysis we have first chosen five different ranges (<1%/year,
Fig. 6. Degradation analysis of electrical parameter.
792 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795

Table 4
25
Cost of different components and salvage values of the PV system.
Dry Wet
S. Parameter Cost (Rs.)
20 no.
No. of module

1 Cost of PV module @ 2000 each 828,000

15 2 Cost of inverter 54,200
3 Cost of stand 14,400
4 Cost of cable 1400
10 5 Cost of battery 312,000
6 Salvage value of the system after 30 years, if inflation 291257.09
remains @4% in India.
5
7 Salvage value of the system after 40 years, if inflation 431131.65
remains @4% in India.
0 8 Salvage value of the system after 50 years, if inflation 638180.16
remains @4% in India.
2
49
100
150
500
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
20000
More
Insulation resistance (M- /m2)
dation in FF in the range of 2–3%/year. It is of corrosion in busbar,
Fig. 7. Insulation resistance histogram of 90 mono crystalline silicon PV modules. string inter connection ribbon and solar cell discoloration (Fig. 8
(d)).
Only one module has power degradation in the range of >4%/
1–2%/year, 2–3%/year, 3–4%/year and >4%/year) of power year. Which has degradation in Isc in the range of 3–4%/year, it is
degradation. Again for a particular range of power degradation, because of bubbles in back-sheet, solar cell discoloration, corrosion
the degradation in Isc, Voc and FF was calculated and categorized in busbar, corrosion in cell interconnection ribbon and corrosion in
in different ranges (0–1.0%/year, 1–2%/year, 2–3%/year and 3–4%/ string inter connection ribbon (Fig. 8(e)). This indicates a break-
year). Results of the electrical parameters studies are given in down in module bus-bar, cell interconnection ribbon and string
Table4. We can observe from Table 3, that 8 PV modules fall in interconnection ribbon and humidity/moisture ingress resulting
the range <1%/year power degradation, 36 PV modules fall in the in isolation of full string of solar cells in PV modules. The average
range 1–2%/year power degradation, 35 PV modules have power rate of degradation of the Voc confirms it.
degradation in the range of 2–3%/year, 10 PV modules have power Fig. 8(a) shows that for PV module with <1%/year power
degradation in the range of 3–4%/year and only one PV modules degradation, corrosion in bus-bar, string interconnect and cell
has >4%/year power degradation. interconnect ribbon were common in almost all of the PV modules.
From Table3, we can infer that for all the range of power degra- The bus-bar corrosion in 5 PV modules lies in the range of 26–50%.
dation accept 2–3%/year power degradation, degradation in Isc, Voc Solar cell discolorations were less in this category of PV modules
and FF lie in the range of 1–2%/year. For 2–3%/year power degrada- and no PV modules were in the range of 51–75%. No PV modules
tion, degradation in Isc lie in the range of 2–3%/year. For <1%/year were found with burn marks and delamination in back-sheet. For
power degradation, 6 modules have degradation of (Isc) in the power degradation range 1–2%/year shown Fig. 8(b), 19 of PV mod-
range of 1–2%/year, which is due to corrosion in busbar and cell ules had bubble defected in the range of 0–5%, while 18 PV mod-
interconnection ribbon as shown in Fig. 8(a). ules had bubble defect in the range 6–25% (3.5% increase
For 1–2%/year power degradation 35 PV modules have degrada- comparison power degradation <1%/year). For power degradation
tion of Isc in the range of 1–2%/year, it is because of corrosion in cell range 2–3%/year shown in Fig. 8(c), 5 PV modules have bubble
interconnection ribbon and string connection ribbon as revealed in defect range 0–5%, 9 PV modules have bubble defect in range 6–
Fig. 8(b) and for 2–3%/year power degradation 25 PV modules have 25%. For 3–4% degradation rate/year shown in Fig. 8(d), 6 PV mod-
degradation in Isc in the range of 2–3%/year it is due to corrosion in ules have bubble defect in range 0–5%, 4 PV modules have bubble
bus-bar and string interconnection ribbon as shown in Fig. 8(c). defect in range 6–25%. For rate of power degradation greater than
For 3–4%/year power degradation 5 PV modules have degrada- 4%/year (Fig. 8(e)), 1 PV modules have bubble defect in the range of
tion in Isc in the range of 3–4%/year and 4 PV modules have degra- 6–25%.

Table 3
Number of PV modules for different electrical parameters (Isc, Voc and FF) range in different range of power degradation.
 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795 793

Fig. 8. The variation of number of modules vs Percentage of defects (a) for power degradation <1%/year, (b) for power degradation 1–2%/year, (c) for power degradation
2–3%/year, (d) for power degradation 3–4%/year, (e) for power degradation >4%/year.

In case of bus-bar corrosion for degradation range 1–2%/year, 15
PV modules have this defect in the range 6–25% and 16 PV modules
have this defect in the range of 26–50%. Comparison with degrada-
tion range 2–3%/year, around 18 PV modules have this defect with
51–75% range. It can be observed that with the increase of rate of
power degradation number of bubbles (%) were increased. Similar
behavior was observed in case of corrosion of cell interconnection
ribbon and string interconnection ribbon. There are numbers of
studies reported where the modules exposed to outdoor conditions
at same time degrade at different levels after a year or number of
year’s exposure.
There are number of studies (Sharma et al., 2014; Vazquez and
Rey-Stolle, 2008) on the PV module degradation showing that even
if the modules of same technology, same design and manufacture
are exposed in the same time of the year to outdoor condition
degrade to different levels when measured after the outdoor expo-
sure of a year or number of years.
Sharma et al. (2014) reported the degradation of 10 multi-c-Si
modules of same design and manufacturer. He found the power
4.5.1. Corrosion of fingers, bus-bars and interconnects
Moisture and atmospheric gases ingress through back-sheet of
the PV module and corrode the metallic sheets of the PV module.
However in case of bus-bar, due to use of low quality of flux during
soldering sometime a dark black layer is deposited in the bus-bar.
Diffusivity of water decreases due to oxidative degradation of the
polymer which leads to more amount or moisture ingress through
EVA, back-sheet (Kempe, 2006). Fig. 9 summaries the degradation
in Pmax of PV modules due to corrosion in bus-bar, cell inter-
connection ribbon and string inter-connection ribbon. The rate of
degradation of power is more in case of high corrosion of string
interconnect ribbon. It is evident from Fig. 9 that, with increase
of percentage defects, the rate of degradation of power increases.
Power degradation range in Bus-bar is 0–2.1%/year, in cell
4.0
3.5
Pmax degradation/year (%)

degradation follow a normal distribution but there is a large

3.0
increase in the standard deviation (SD) of the power output before
and after the outdoor exposure. How much the SD will increase is 2.5
still a topic of search (Sanchez-Friera et al., 2011).
Also, it must be added that it is not necessary that the rated 2.0
value of peak power provided by the manufacturer must coincide
1.5
with the measured value of the PV module actual peak power.
Busbar
The generation of various defects during the outdoor exposure 1.0 Cell interconnection ribbon
degrades the power output of the module. These are many factors string interconnection ribbon
0.5 EVA discoloration
of generation of these defects. These are mainly because of the Junction box corroded
environmental stress viz. temperature, UV exposure, Humidity, 0.0 Delamination in back-sheet
snow fall etc. experienced by the modules during the outdoor 0-5 6-25 26-50 51-75
exposure. Also it depends upon the position of the module in an % defect
array. Manufacture defects can also result in the degradation of
modules more than the expected level. Fig. 9. The variation of Pmax vs percentage of defect.
794 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795

interconnection ribbon is 0–2.1%/year and in string interconnec- 46

tion ribbon is 1–2.3%/year. Cost (Rs./kWh)for (i=2)
44
Cost (Rs./kWh) for (i=5)
42
4.5.2. EVA discoloration 40
Exposure of PV modules under UV radiation at high temp (85–

Cost (Rs./kWh)
38
90 °C) causes EVA discoloration (Holley and Agro, 1998). With the
36
discoloration of EVA the short circuit current decreases because the
discoloration leads to low transmissivity of light. The position of 34
discoloration of EVA on solar cell results degradation of Isc because 32
it reduces the current flowing through the solar cell. Therefore it is 30
immaterial whether discoloration in one cell or more cells as solar
28
cell are connected in series. From Fig. 9, it has been found that the
discoloration does not affect the fill factor and Voc more. However 26
there are significant effect on the Isc degradation and hence the 24
power degradation.
22
In present study only 7 modules are analyzed for EVA discol-
oration. Range of degradation of power varies from 2.08% to 10 20 30 40 50
3.48%/year and the average degradation was 2.60%/year. No. of years
Fig. 10. Variation of unit cost with life time for 2% and 5% interest rate.

4.5.3. Junction box corroded

Proper sealing and covering of junction box needed to reduce
the corrosion of output terminals which happens because of the
entry of the water. Most of the modules have the corroded output
terminals; in present study we are including 6 PV modules damage
in junction box. Degradation range of these modules varies from
1.09% to 2.07%/year shown in Fig. 9 It has been observed that the
pattern of degradation is not uniform with the junction box
detachment.
4.5.4. Delamination in back-sheet
Delamination in the back-sheet of the PV module reduces the
thermal conductivity locally and hence increases the temperature
of the cell. Delamination depends on the detachment of the two
layers, EVA-glass and EVA-back-sheet (Oreski and Pinter, 2011).
In present study, delamination studies for 5 modules have been
presented in Fig. 9. In all the 5 modules delamination occurred in
back-sheet. The range of power degradation of these modules var-
ies from 3.17 to 3.63%/year.
4.6. Cost analysis
The net present cost has been estimated by summing the capital
investment of different components of the PV system (Table 4). The
annualized uniform cost (UAC) has been calculated for different life
time of the system and shown in Table 5. It has been observed that
for higher interest rate the UAC increases. Also the UAC decreases
with increasing life time. Fig. 10 shows the variation unit cost of
electricity (Rs./kW h) generated from the PV system with number
of years for two different interest rates (2% and 5%) interest rate.
5. Conclusions
The following conclusions have been summarized on the basis
of present study:
 The rate of degradation of Pmax has been found with average
value 1.9%/year, which is higher than the usually estimated
1.4%/year (Chandel et al., 2015). The maximum rate of power
degradation of was found to be 4.1%/year and minimum was
0.3%/year. While average rate of degradation of Isc and Voc was
1.8%/year and 1.4%/year respectively.
 The corrosion in bus-bar, string interconnection ribbon, cell
interconnection ribbon is the commonly observed defects in
all modules. However the rate of power degradation/year in
case of these defects is less comparison to other defects.
 The 9 PV modules have insulation resistance <400 MX out of 90
PV modules as per IEC 61215 standard and safety issue. 7 mod-
ules have insulation resistance <400 MX in wet condition and 2
modules has insulation resistance <400 MX in dry condition.
 The leakage current increase rapidly with increasing number of
hot spots (area of hot spot).
 Unit cost of the PV system is lesser for higher life time and
lower interest rate.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the co-operation and
help extended by the NISE staff, Mr. Shyam at IIT Delhi, during
the above studies. One of author, Mr. Pramod Rajput is thankful
to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (Government of India),
for partial financial support for the present study.

Table 5
Uniform annualized cost (UAC) of system for different life time and interest rates.

n i (%) P S (RS: Þ M @10% SS ðRS :Þ F CR;i;n F SR;i;n UAC ðRS :Þ Cost ðRS :=kW hÞ

10 2 1492588.01 149258.80 132925.93 0.1113 0.0913 170641.4 39.50

20 2 1980357.27 198035.72 196762.85 0.0611 0.0411 125125.3 28.96
30 2 2380497.96 238049.79 291257.09 0.0446 0.0246 109738.5 25.40
40 2 2708752.69 270875.26 431131.65 0.0365 0.0165 101784.8 23.56
50 2 2978035.91 297803.59 638180.16 0.0318 0.0118 96702.39 22.38
10 5 1454460.16 145446.01 132925.93 0.1295 0.0795 196626.9 45.51
20 5 1796078.43 179607.84 196762.85 0.0802 0.0302 152583.6 35.32
30 5 2005802.41 200580.24 291257.09 0.0650 0.0150 139144.5 32.20
40 5 2134554.75 213455.47 431131.65 0.0582 0.0082 133268.7 30.84
50 5 2213597.51 221359.75 638180.16 0.0547 0.0047 130330.6 30.16
 P. Rajput et al. / Solar Energy 135 (2016) 786–795
40
35
Pmax (W) or Voc (V)
30
25
20
15
10
Voc
5
0 0
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88
Module number
Fig. A1. Actual measured quantitative values of Isc, Voc and Pmax for different 90 PV modules after 22 years outdoor exposure.
Appendix A
See Fig. A1.
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