micro-cracks

A new generation of flexible, lightweight modules is entering the market. With back contact technology offering its own form of design flexibility and robustness, the new products could crack a hard-to-address market segment.

While shingled cells have been around for a while, Tongwei’s adoption of the technology is notable as it is a manufacturer with considerable scale. If shingling can overcome some hurdles, it could prove a welcome solution as unshaded sites for PV become elusive in mature solar markets.

A Turkish research team has analyzed how big changes in temperature can affect absorbance, light transmittance and reflectivity in two types of solar glass. The scientists demonstrated lower efficiency in solar cells and the glass itself were attributable to a large number of micro-cracks and deformations on the glass surface.

A research team from the University of Huddersfield used electron microscopy to analyze micro-cracks in 4,000 polycrystalline silicon solar cell samples. The results showed power losses may vary from 0.9-42.8%, and increased temperatures due to micro-cracking may favor the formation of permanent hot spots in the cells.