Title

The Reliability Of Bypass Diodes In Pv Modules

Keywords

Bypass Diode; PV Module; Reliability

Abstract

The operating conditions of bypass diodes in PV modules deployed in the field are considerably harsher than the conditions at which the diode manufacturers test the diodes. This has a potential to significantly reduce the operating life of bypass diodes and has raised concerns about the safety and reliability of PV modules as a whole. The study of modes and mechanisms of the failures encountered in bypass diodes used in PV modules can provide important information which would be useful to predict the module lifetime. This paper presents the review of the failure modes and mechanisms observed in bypass diodes and current work related to reliability testing of bypass diodes. The International PV Module Quality Assurance Task Force has recommended following four potential areas of research to understand the reliability issues of bypass diodes: Electrostatic Discharge, reverse bias thermal runaway testing, forward bias overheating and transition testing of forward bias to reverse bias. As a joint collaborative effort between Florida Solar Energy Center and Solar and Environmental Test Laboratory at Jabil Inc., laboratory testing of bypass diodes on the guidelines provided by the International PV Module Quality Assurance Task Force has been initiated. Preliminary results from this work are presented in this paper. © 2013 SPIE.

Publication Date

11-4-2013

Publication Title

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Volume

8825

Number of Pages

-

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2026782

Socpus ID

84886707645 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84886707645

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