Microstructure analysis of snail trails in photovoltaic modules

Snail trails on photovoltaic modules are a source of enormous concern to the solar industry as few scientific reports on the mechanisms producing this global phenomenon were previously available. The samples surface were treated with CH3OH/CH2Cl2 and used the SEM and Raman for material analysis. The size of the discoloration silver grid is about 80-200 nm. From the Raman spectroscopy can be seen snail trails and the surrounding discoloration of silver on the Ag2CO3 generation.