Volume 24, Issue 8 pp. 1035-1043
Research Article

Investigation of damage caused by partial shading of CuInxGa(1-x)Se2 photovoltaic modules with bypass diodes

Ji Eun Lee

Ji Eun Lee

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

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Soohyun Bae

Soohyun Bae

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

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Wonwook Oh

Wonwook Oh

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

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Hyomin Park

Hyomin Park

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

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Soo Min Kim

Soo Min Kim

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

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Dongho Lee

Dongho Lee

Photovoltaic Development Team, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Cheonan-Si, 331-300 Korea

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Junggyu Nam

Junggyu Nam

Photovoltaic Development Team, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Cheonan-Si, 331-300 Korea

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Chan Bin Mo

Chan Bin Mo

Photovoltaic Development Team, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Cheonan-Si, 331-300 Korea

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Dongseop Kim

Dongseop Kim

KU-KIST Green School, Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

Photovoltaic Development Team, Samsung SDI Co., Ltd., Cheonan-Si, 331-300 Korea

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JungYup Yang

JungYup Yang

Department of Physics, Kunsan National University, South Korea, 54150 Korea

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Yoonmook Kang

Corresponding Author

Yoonmook Kang

KU-KIST Green School, Graduate School of Energy and Environment, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

Correspondence

Donghwan Kim, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Hae-seok Lee

Corresponding Author

Hae-seok Lee

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

Correspondence

Donghwan Kim, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea.

E-mail: [email protected]

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Donghwan Kim

Corresponding Author

Donghwan Kim

Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701 Korea

Correspondence

Donghwan Kim, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea.

E-mail: [email protected]

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First published: 03 April 2016
Citations: 38

Abstract

This study evaluated the impact of partial shading on CuInxGa(1-x)Se2 (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) modules equipped with bypass diodes. When the CIGS PV modules were partially shaded, they were subjected to partial reverse bias, leading to the formation of hotspots and a possible occurrence of junction damage. In a module with a cadmium sulfide buffer layer, hotspots and wormlike defects were formed. The hotspots were formed as soon as the modules were shaded; the hotspots caused permanent damage (wormlike defects) in the CIGS module. Specifically, the wormlike defects were caused by the window layer, leading to increased recombination and decay of the solar cell properties. However, a CIGS module with a zinc sulfide buffer layer did not exhibit the formation of hotspots or any visual damage. The reverse bias breakdown voltage of the CIGS PV module with the cadmium sulfide buffer layer was higher than that of the CIGS PV module with the zinc sulfide buffer layer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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