Comparison of different technologies for solar PV (Photovoltaic) outdoor performance using indoor accelerated aging tests for long term reliability

This paper presents comprehensive study on performance comparison of different photovoltaic technologies, when subjected to five distinct proportions of temperature and humidity in a controlled environment under biasing conditions. The study considers five different PV (Photovoltaic) technologies (Mono, Multi, a-Si, CdTe, CIGS) based on their electrical parameters. It is observed that CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium Selenide) performs with best efficiency at 60 degrees C, 60% RH (relative humidity) while CdTe performs with best efficiency at 85 degrees C, 85% RH. The descriptive statistics shows that the largest possible Variance in Maximum Power of a-Si out of all available technologies is about 20.85 whereas the lowest noted in Mono C-Si is 0.917. The variability of data is further checked using Analysis of Variance tool. Finally the study establishes the performance dominance of C-Si (Mono) technology over all the thin film technologies based on stress tests and evaluation through the repeated measurement of maximum Power, module efficiency and cell efficiency. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.