Performance and Degradation Analysis of High-Efficiency SPV Modules Under Composite Climatic Condition

High-efficiency commercial solar panels have an appreciable solar energy to electrical energy conversion efficiency as compared to other Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) modules. It generates 36% more efficient power in panel over 25 years as compared to other modules and shows module wise highest efficiency of over 20%. The performance of an SPV module depends on environmental conditions and it degrades with the time of exposure. In the present work the degradation study of 100 kW high-efficiency SPV power plant installed at NISE Campus, Gurugram, Haryana, India has been carried out after 2 years of installation in (Indian) composite climatic conditions. The annual degradation rate of the high-efficiency technology is calculated from I-V measurement data of the individual modules of the power plant after subjecting them to visual inspection, thermal imaging and insulation resistance testing. The annual degradation rate of maximum power was found to lie in the range of 2.8% to 4.3% per year with a median of 3.9% for 2 years.