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Solar energy is leading in renewable energy sources and the aspects surrounding the efforts to harvest light are gaining importance. One such aspect is increasing the light absorption, where heliotropism comes into play. Heliotropism, the ability to track the sun across the sky, can be integrated with solar cells for more efficient photon collection and other optoelectronic systems. Inspired by plants, which optimize incident sunlight in nature, several researchers have made artificial heliotropic and phototropic systems. This project aims to design, synthesize and characterize a material system and evaluate its application in a phototropic system. A gold nanoparticle (Au NP) incorporated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogel was synthesized as a photo-thermo-responsive material in our phototropic system. The Au NPs generate heat from the incident via plasmonic resonance to induce a volume phase change of the thermo-responsive hydrogel PNIPAAm. PNIPAAm shrinks or swells at temperature above or below 32°C. Upon irradiation, the Au NP-PNIPAAm micropillar actuates, specifically bending toward the incident light and precisely following the varying incident angle.
Swelling ratio tests, bending angle tests with a static incident light and bending tests with varying angles were carried out on hydrogel samples with varying Au NP concentrations. Swelling ratios ranging from 1.45 to 2.9 were recorded for pure hydrogel samples and samples with very low Au NP concentrations. Swelling ratios of 2.41 and 3.37 were calculated for samples with low and high concentrations of Au NPs, respectively. A bending of up to 88° was observed in Au NP-hydrogel pillars with a low Au NP concentration with a 90° incident angle. The light tracking performance was assessed by the slope of the pillar Bending angle (response angle) vs. Incident light angle plot. A slope of 1 indicates ideal tracking with top of the pillar being normal to the incident light, maximizing the photon absorption. Slopes of 0.82 and 0.56 were observed for the low and high Au NP concentration samples. The rapid and precise incident light tracking of our system has shown the promise in phototropic applications.
Swelling ratio tests, bending angle tests with a static incident light and bending tests with varying angles were carried out on hydrogel samples with varying Au NP concentrations. Swelling ratios ranging from 1.45 to 2.9 were recorded for pure hydrogel samples and samples with very low Au NP concentrations. Swelling ratios of 2.41 and 3.37 were calculated for samples with low and high concentrations of Au NPs, respectively. A bending of up to 88° was observed in Au NP-hydrogel pillars with a low Au NP concentration with a 90° incident angle. The light tracking performance was assessed by the slope of the pillar Bending angle (response angle) vs. Incident light angle plot. A slope of 1 indicates ideal tracking with top of the pillar being normal to the incident light, maximizing the photon absorption. Slopes of 0.82 and 0.56 were observed for the low and high Au NP concentration samples. The rapid and precise incident light tracking of our system has shown the promise in phototropic applications.
ContributorsGopalakrishna, Hamsini (Author) / He, Ximin (Thesis advisor) / Holman, Zachary C (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Mechanical behavior of metallic thin films at room temperature (RT) is relatively well characterized. However, measuring the high temperature mechanical properties of thin films poses several challenges. These include ensuring uniformity in sample temperature and minimizing temporal fluctuations due to ambient heat loss, in addition to difficulties involved in mechanical testing of microscale samples. To address these issues, we designed and analyzed a MEMS-based high temperature tensile testing stage made from single crystal silicon. The freestanding thin film specimens were co-fabricated with the stage to ensure uniaxial loading. Multi-physics simulations of Joule heating, incorporating both radiation and convection heat transfer, were carried out using COMSOL to map the temperature distribution across the stage and the specimen. The simulations were validated using temperature measurements from a thermoreflectance microscope.
ContributorsEswarappa Prameela, Suhas (Author) / Rajagopalan, Jagannathan (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In recent years, solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has seen lots of improvements in technology and of growth in market with crystalline silicon PV modules being the most widely used technology. Plant inspections are gaining much importance to identify and quantitatively determine the impacts of various visual defects on performance. There are about 86 different types of defects found in the PV modules installed in various climates and most of them can be visually observed. However, a quantitative determination of impact or risk of each of identified defect on performance is challenging. Thus, it is utmost important to quantify the risk for each of the visual defects without any human subjectivity. The best way to quantify the risk of each defect is to perform current-voltage measurements of the defective modules installed in the plant but it requires disruption of plant operation, expensive measuring equipment and intensive human resources. One of the most riskiest and dominant visual defects is encapsulant browning which affects the PV module performance in the form of current degradation. The present study deals with developing an automated image processing tool which can address the issues of human subjectivity on browning level impacting performance. The image processing tool developed in this work can be directly used to quantify the impact of browning on performance without intrusively disconnecting the modules from the plant. In this work, the quantified browning level impact on performance has also been experimentally validated through a correlation study using short-circuit current and reflectance/transmittance measurements of browned PV modules retrieved from aged plants/systems installed in diverse climatic conditions. The primary goal of the image processing tool developed in this work is to determine the performance impact of encapsulant browning without interrupting the plant operation for I-V measurements. The use of image processing tool provides a single numerical value, called browning index (BI), which can accurately quantify browning levels on modules and also correlate with the performance and reflectance/transmittance parameters of the modules.
ContributorsGudla, Sushanth (Author) / Govindasamy, Tamizhmani (Thesis advisor) / Patrick, Phelan E (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Origami and kirigami, the technique of generating three-dimensional (3D) structures from two-dimensional (2D) flat sheets, are now more and more involved in scientific and engineering fields. Therefore, the development of tools for their theoretical analysis becomes more and more important. Since much effort was paid on calculations based on pure mathematical consideration and only limited effort has been paid to include mechanical properties, the goal of my research is developing a method to analyze the mechanical behavior of origami and kirigami based structures. Mechanical characteristics, including nonlocal effect and fracture of the structures, as well as elasticity and plasticity of materials are studied. For calculation of relative simple structures and building of structures’ constitutive relations, analytical approaches were used. For more complex structures, finite element analysis (FEA), which is commonly applied as a numerical method for the analysis of solid structures, was utilized. The general study approach is not necessarily related to characteristic size of model. I believe the scale-independent method described here will pave a new way to understand the mechanical response of a variety of origami and kirigami based structures under given mechanical loading.
ContributorsLv, Cheng (Author) / Jiang, Hanqing (Thesis advisor) / Yu, Hongbin (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Hildreth, Owen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The operating temperature of photovoltaic (PV) modules is affected by external factors such as irradiance, wind speed and ambient temperature as well as internal factors like material properties and design properties. These factors can make a difference in the operating temperatures between cells within a module and between modules within a plant. This is a three-part thesis.
Part 1 investigates the behavior of temperature distribution of PV cells within a module through outdoor temperature monitoring under various operating conditions (Pmax, Voc and Isc) and examines deviation in the temperature coefficient values pertaining to this temperature variation. ANOVA, a statistical tool, was used to study the influence of various factors on temperature variation. This study also investigated the thermal non-uniformity affecting I-V parameters and performance of four different PV technologies (crystalline silicon, CdTe, CIGS, a-Si). Two new approaches (black-colored frame and aluminum tape on back-sheet) were implemented in addition to the two previously-used approaches (thermally insulating the frame, and frame and back sheet) to study temperature uniformity improvements within c-Si PV modules on a fixed latitude-tilt array. This thesis concludes that frame thermal insulation and black frame help reducing thermal gradients and next best viable option to improve temperature uniformity measurements is by using average of four thermocouples as per IEC 61853-2 standard.
Part 2 analyzes the temperature data for two power plants (fixed-tilt and one-axis) to study the temperature variation across the cells in a module and across the modules in a power plant. The module placed in the center of one-axis power plant had higher temperature, whereas in fixed-tilt power plant, the module in north-west direction had higher temperatures. Higher average operating temperatures were observed in one-axis tracking as compared to the fixed-tilt PV power plant, thereby expected to lowering their lifetime.
Part 3 focuses on determination of a thermal model coefficients, using parameters similar to Uc and Uv thermal loss factors used in PVsyst, for modules of four different PV technologies experiencing hot-desert climate conditions by statistically correlating a year-long monitored data. Thermal models help to effectively quantity factors influencing module temperatures to estimate performance and energy models.
Part 1 investigates the behavior of temperature distribution of PV cells within a module through outdoor temperature monitoring under various operating conditions (Pmax, Voc and Isc) and examines deviation in the temperature coefficient values pertaining to this temperature variation. ANOVA, a statistical tool, was used to study the influence of various factors on temperature variation. This study also investigated the thermal non-uniformity affecting I-V parameters and performance of four different PV technologies (crystalline silicon, CdTe, CIGS, a-Si). Two new approaches (black-colored frame and aluminum tape on back-sheet) were implemented in addition to the two previously-used approaches (thermally insulating the frame, and frame and back sheet) to study temperature uniformity improvements within c-Si PV modules on a fixed latitude-tilt array. This thesis concludes that frame thermal insulation and black frame help reducing thermal gradients and next best viable option to improve temperature uniformity measurements is by using average of four thermocouples as per IEC 61853-2 standard.
Part 2 analyzes the temperature data for two power plants (fixed-tilt and one-axis) to study the temperature variation across the cells in a module and across the modules in a power plant. The module placed in the center of one-axis power plant had higher temperature, whereas in fixed-tilt power plant, the module in north-west direction had higher temperatures. Higher average operating temperatures were observed in one-axis tracking as compared to the fixed-tilt PV power plant, thereby expected to lowering their lifetime.
Part 3 focuses on determination of a thermal model coefficients, using parameters similar to Uc and Uv thermal loss factors used in PVsyst, for modules of four different PV technologies experiencing hot-desert climate conditions by statistically correlating a year-long monitored data. Thermal models help to effectively quantity factors influencing module temperatures to estimate performance and energy models.
ContributorsPavgi, Ashwini (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Phelan, Patrick (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Nanoparticle suspensions, popularly termed “nanofluids,” have been extensively investigated for their thermal and radiative properties. Such work has generated great controversy, although it is arguably accepted today that the presence of nanoparticles rarely leads to useful enhancements in either thermal conductivity or convective heat transfer. On the other hand, there are still examples of unanticipated enhancements to some properties, such as the reported specific heat of molten salt-based nanofluids and the critical heat flux. Another largely overlooked example is the apparent effect of nanoparticles on the effective latent heat of vaporization (hfg) of aqueous nanofluids. A previous study focused on molecular dynamics (MD) modeling supplemented with limited experimental data to suggest that hfg increases with increasing nanoparticle concentration.
Here, this research extends that exploratory work in an effort to determine if hfg of aqueous nanofluids can be manipulated, i.e., increased or decreased, by the addition of graphite or silver nanoparticles. Our results to date indicate that hfg can be substantially impacted, by up to ± 30% depending on the type of nanoparticle. Moreover, this dissertation reports further experiments with changing surface area based on volume fraction (0.005% to 2%) and various nanoparticle sizes to investigate the mechanisms for hfg modification in aqueous graphite and silver nanofluids. This research also investigates thermophysical properties, i.e., density and surface tension in aqueous nanofluids to support the experimental results of hfg based on the Clausius - Clapeyron equation. This theoretical investigation agrees well with the experimental results. Furthermore, this research investigates the hfg change of aqueous nanofluids with nanoscale studies in terms of melting of silver nanoparticles and hydrophobic interactions of graphite nanofluid. As a result, the entropy change due to those mechanisms could be a main cause of the changes of hfg in silver and graphite nanofluids.
Finally, applying the latent heat results of graphite and silver nanofluids to an actual solar thermal system to identify enhanced performance with a Rankine cycle is suggested to show that the tunable latent heat of vaporization in nanofluilds could be beneficial for real-world solar thermal applications with improved efficiency.
Here, this research extends that exploratory work in an effort to determine if hfg of aqueous nanofluids can be manipulated, i.e., increased or decreased, by the addition of graphite or silver nanoparticles. Our results to date indicate that hfg can be substantially impacted, by up to ± 30% depending on the type of nanoparticle. Moreover, this dissertation reports further experiments with changing surface area based on volume fraction (0.005% to 2%) and various nanoparticle sizes to investigate the mechanisms for hfg modification in aqueous graphite and silver nanofluids. This research also investigates thermophysical properties, i.e., density and surface tension in aqueous nanofluids to support the experimental results of hfg based on the Clausius - Clapeyron equation. This theoretical investigation agrees well with the experimental results. Furthermore, this research investigates the hfg change of aqueous nanofluids with nanoscale studies in terms of melting of silver nanoparticles and hydrophobic interactions of graphite nanofluid. As a result, the entropy change due to those mechanisms could be a main cause of the changes of hfg in silver and graphite nanofluids.
Finally, applying the latent heat results of graphite and silver nanofluids to an actual solar thermal system to identify enhanced performance with a Rankine cycle is suggested to show that the tunable latent heat of vaporization in nanofluilds could be beneficial for real-world solar thermal applications with improved efficiency.
ContributorsLee, Soochan (Author) / Phelan, Patrick E (Thesis advisor) / Wu, Carole-Jean (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Taylor, Robert A. (Committee member) / Prasher, Ravi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The rapid progress of solution-phase synthesis has led colloidal nanocrystals one of the most versatile nanoscale materials, provided opportunities to tailor material's properties, and boosted related technological innovations. Colloidal nanocrystal-based materials have been demonstrated success in a variety of applications, such as LEDs, electronics, solar cells and thermoelectrics. In each of these applications, the thermal transport property plays a big role. An undesirable temperature rise due to inefficient heat dissipation could lead to deleterious effects on devices' performance and lifetime. Hence, the first project is focused on investigating the thermal transport in colloidal nanocrystal solids. This study answers the question that how the molecular structure of nanocrystals affect the thermal transport, and provides insights for future device designs. In particular, PbS nanocrystals is used as a monitoring system, and the core diameter, ligand length and ligand binding group are systematically varied to study the corresponding effect on thermal transport.
Next, a fundamental study is presented on the phase stability and solid-liquid transformation of metallic (In, Sn and Bi) colloidal nanocrystals. Although the phase change of nanoparticles has been a long-standing research topic, the melting behavior of colloidal nanocrytstals is largely unexplored. In addition, this study is of practical importance to nanocrystal-based applications that operate at elevated temperatures. Embedding colloidal nanocrystals into thermally-stable polymer matrices allows preserving nanocrystal size throughout melt-freeze cycles, and therefore enabling observation of stable melting features. Size-dependent melting temperature, melting enthalpy and melting entropy have all been measured and discussed.
In the next two chapters, focus has been switched to developing colloidal nanocrystal-based phase change composites for thermal energy storage applications. In Chapter 4, a polymer matrix phase change nanocomposite has been created. In this composite, the melting temperature and energy density could be independently controlled by tuning nanocrystal diameter and volume fractions. In Chapter 5, a solution-phase synthesis on metal matrix-metal nanocrytal composite is presented. This approach enables excellent morphological control over nanocrystals and demonstrated a phase change composite with a thermal conductivity 2 - 3 orders of magnitude greater than typical phase change materials, such as organics and molten salts.
Next, a fundamental study is presented on the phase stability and solid-liquid transformation of metallic (In, Sn and Bi) colloidal nanocrystals. Although the phase change of nanoparticles has been a long-standing research topic, the melting behavior of colloidal nanocrytstals is largely unexplored. In addition, this study is of practical importance to nanocrystal-based applications that operate at elevated temperatures. Embedding colloidal nanocrystals into thermally-stable polymer matrices allows preserving nanocrystal size throughout melt-freeze cycles, and therefore enabling observation of stable melting features. Size-dependent melting temperature, melting enthalpy and melting entropy have all been measured and discussed.
In the next two chapters, focus has been switched to developing colloidal nanocrystal-based phase change composites for thermal energy storage applications. In Chapter 4, a polymer matrix phase change nanocomposite has been created. In this composite, the melting temperature and energy density could be independently controlled by tuning nanocrystal diameter and volume fractions. In Chapter 5, a solution-phase synthesis on metal matrix-metal nanocrytal composite is presented. This approach enables excellent morphological control over nanocrystals and demonstrated a phase change composite with a thermal conductivity 2 - 3 orders of magnitude greater than typical phase change materials, such as organics and molten salts.
ContributorsLiu, Minglu (Author) / Wang, Robert Y (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
III-nitride InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) enable wide range of applications in solid-state lighting, full-color displays, and high-speed visible-light communication. Conventional InGaN quantum well LEDs grown on polar c-plane substrate suffer from quantum confined Stark effect due to the large internal polarization-related fields, leading to a reduced radiative recombination rate and device efficiency, which limits the performance of InGaN LEDs in high-speed communication applications. To circumvent these negative effects, non-trivial-cavity designs such as flip-chip LEDs, metallic grating coated LEDs are proposed. This oral defense will show the works on the high-modulation-speed LEDs from basic ideas to applications. Fundamental principles such as rate equations for LEDs/laser diodes (LDs), plasmonic effects, Purcell effects will be briefly introduced. For applications, the modal properties of flip-chip LEDs are solved by implementing finite difference method in order to study the modulation response. The emission properties of highly polarized InGaN LEDs coated by metallic gratings are also investigated by finite difference time domain method.
ContributorsChen, Hong (Author) / Zhao, Yuji (Thesis advisor) / Yao, Yu (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The energy crisis in the past decades has greatly boosted the search for alternatives to traditional fossil foils, and solar energy stands out as an important candidate due to its cleanness and abundance. However, the relatively low conversion efficiency and energy density strongly hinder the utilization of solar energy in wider applications. This thesis focuses on employing metamaterials and metafilms to enhance the conversion efficiency of solar thermal, solar thermophotovoltaic (STPV) and photovoltaic systems.
A selective metamaterial solar absorber is designed in this thesis to maximize the absorbed solar energy and minimize heat dissipation through thermal radiation. The theoretically designed metamaterial solar absorber exhibits absorptance higher than 95% in the solar spectrum but shows emittance less than 4% in the IR regime. This metamaterial solar absorber is further experimentally fabricated and optically characterized. Moreover, a metafilm selective absorber with stability up to 600oC is introduced, which exhibits solar absorptance higher than 90% and IR emittance less than 10%.
Solar thermophotovoltaic energy conversion enhanced by metamaterial absorbers and emitters is theoretically investigated in this thesis. The STPV system employing selective metamaterial absorber and emitter is investigated in this work, showing its conversion efficiency between 8% and 10% with concentration factor varying between 20 and 200. This conversion efficiency is remarkably enhanced compared with the conversion efficiency for STPV system employing black surfaces (<2.5%).
Moreover, plasmonic light trapping in ultra-thin solar cells employing concave grating nanostructures is discussed in this thesis. The plasmonic light trapping inside an ultrathin GaAs layer in the film-coupled metamaterial structure is numerically demonstrated. By exciting plasmonic resonances inside this structure, the short-circuit current density for the film-coupled metamaterial solar cell is three times the short-circuit current for a free-standing GaAs layer.
The dissertation is concluded by discussing about the future work on selective solar thermal absorbers, STPV/TPV systems and light trapping structures. Possibilities to design and fabricate solar thermal absorber with better thermal stability will be discussed, the experimental work of TPV system will be conducted, and the light trapping in organic and perovskite solar cells will be looked into.
A selective metamaterial solar absorber is designed in this thesis to maximize the absorbed solar energy and minimize heat dissipation through thermal radiation. The theoretically designed metamaterial solar absorber exhibits absorptance higher than 95% in the solar spectrum but shows emittance less than 4% in the IR regime. This metamaterial solar absorber is further experimentally fabricated and optically characterized. Moreover, a metafilm selective absorber with stability up to 600oC is introduced, which exhibits solar absorptance higher than 90% and IR emittance less than 10%.
Solar thermophotovoltaic energy conversion enhanced by metamaterial absorbers and emitters is theoretically investigated in this thesis. The STPV system employing selective metamaterial absorber and emitter is investigated in this work, showing its conversion efficiency between 8% and 10% with concentration factor varying between 20 and 200. This conversion efficiency is remarkably enhanced compared with the conversion efficiency for STPV system employing black surfaces (<2.5%).
Moreover, plasmonic light trapping in ultra-thin solar cells employing concave grating nanostructures is discussed in this thesis. The plasmonic light trapping inside an ultrathin GaAs layer in the film-coupled metamaterial structure is numerically demonstrated. By exciting plasmonic resonances inside this structure, the short-circuit current density for the film-coupled metamaterial solar cell is three times the short-circuit current for a free-standing GaAs layer.
The dissertation is concluded by discussing about the future work on selective solar thermal absorbers, STPV/TPV systems and light trapping structures. Possibilities to design and fabricate solar thermal absorber with better thermal stability will be discussed, the experimental work of TPV system will be conducted, and the light trapping in organic and perovskite solar cells will be looked into.
ContributorsWang, Hao (Author) / Wang, Liping (Thesis advisor) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Dai, Lenore (Committee member) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This is a two-part thesis.
Part 1 of this thesis investigates the influence of spatial temperature distribution on the accuracy of performance data of photovoltaic (PV) modules in outdoor conditions and provides physical approaches to improve the spatial temperature distribution of the test modules so an accurate performance data can be obtained in the field. Conventionally, during outdoor performance testing, a single thermocouple location is used on the backsheet or back glass of a test module. This study clearly indicates that there is a large spatial temperature difference between various thermocouple locations within a module. Two physical approaches or configurations were experimented to improve the spatial temperature uniformity: thermally insulating the inner and outer surface of the frame; backsheet and inner surface of the frame. All the data were compared with un-insulated conventional configuration. This study was performed in an array setup of six modules under two different preconditioning electrical configurations, Voc and MPPT over several clear sunny days. This investigation concludes that the best temperature uniformity and the most accurate I-V data can be obtained only by thermally insulating the inner and outer frame surfaces or by using the average of four thermocouple temperatures, as specified in IEC 61853-2, without any thermal insulation.
Part 2 of this thesis analyzes the field data obtained from old PV power plants using various statistical techniques to identify the most influential degradation modes on fielded PV modules in two different climates: hot-dry (Arizona); cold-dry (New York). Performance data and visual inspection data of 647 modules fielded in five different power plants were analyzed. Statistical tests including hypothesis testing were carried out to identify the I-V parameter(s) that are affected the most. The affected performance parameters (Isc, Voc, FF and Pmax) were then correlated with the defects to determine the most dominant defect affecting power degradation. Analysis indicates that the cell interconnect discoloration (or solder bond deterioration) is the dominant defect in hot-dry climate leading to series resistance increase and power loss, while encapsulant delamination is being the most dominant defect in cold-dry climate leading to cell mismatch and power loss.
Part 1 of this thesis investigates the influence of spatial temperature distribution on the accuracy of performance data of photovoltaic (PV) modules in outdoor conditions and provides physical approaches to improve the spatial temperature distribution of the test modules so an accurate performance data can be obtained in the field. Conventionally, during outdoor performance testing, a single thermocouple location is used on the backsheet or back glass of a test module. This study clearly indicates that there is a large spatial temperature difference between various thermocouple locations within a module. Two physical approaches or configurations were experimented to improve the spatial temperature uniformity: thermally insulating the inner and outer surface of the frame; backsheet and inner surface of the frame. All the data were compared with un-insulated conventional configuration. This study was performed in an array setup of six modules under two different preconditioning electrical configurations, Voc and MPPT over several clear sunny days. This investigation concludes that the best temperature uniformity and the most accurate I-V data can be obtained only by thermally insulating the inner and outer frame surfaces or by using the average of four thermocouple temperatures, as specified in IEC 61853-2, without any thermal insulation.
Part 2 of this thesis analyzes the field data obtained from old PV power plants using various statistical techniques to identify the most influential degradation modes on fielded PV modules in two different climates: hot-dry (Arizona); cold-dry (New York). Performance data and visual inspection data of 647 modules fielded in five different power plants were analyzed. Statistical tests including hypothesis testing were carried out to identify the I-V parameter(s) that are affected the most. The affected performance parameters (Isc, Voc, FF and Pmax) were then correlated with the defects to determine the most dominant defect affecting power degradation. Analysis indicates that the cell interconnect discoloration (or solder bond deterioration) is the dominant defect in hot-dry climate leading to series resistance increase and power loss, while encapsulant delamination is being the most dominant defect in cold-dry climate leading to cell mismatch and power loss.
ContributorsUmachandran, Neelesh (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015