Experimental investigation of observed defects in crystalline silicon PV modules under outdoor hot dry climatic conditions in Algeria

Abstract The paper reviews the different detectable failures of mono-crystalline and poly-crystalline silicon in the research unit in renewable energies in Saharan medium (URERMS) fields. This survey is an effort to inspect and assess the defects of PV modules occurring in recent and older installations in a desert environment and under real operating conditions. The analysis and evaluation of 608 PV modules inside the site of URERMS and in a remote located solar installation (Melouka) using the visual inspection test results in the following failures and degradation modes: delamination, discoloration of the encapsulant, corrosion and discoloration of the metallization (gridlines, busbar, cell interconnect ribbon and string interconnect), solar cell cracks, broken glass, deterioration of the antireflection coating, snail trails, junction box failure, soiling. The electrical performance of some tested modules is also performed in order to give the correlation with the visual defects.