TY - JOUR

T1 - Partial shading of one solar cell in a photovoltaic module with 3-terminal cell interconnection

AU - Witteck, Robert

AU - Blankemeyer, Susanne

AU - Siebert, Michael

AU - Köntges, Marc

AU - Schulte-Huxel, Henning

N1 - Funding information: The results were generated in the SUPERPV project (Grant Agreement No. 792245) funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and supported by the 27plus6 project (grant FKZ 03EE1056A) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The results were generated in the SUPERPV project (Grant Agreement No. 792245 ) funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and supported by the 27plus6 project (grant FKZ 03EE1056A ) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - We examine the electrical and thermal characteristics of a photovoltaic module with three-terminal cell interconnection when partially shading a solar cell by experimentally verified modeling. For the interconnection of multi junction and tandem solar cells a two- (2T), three- (3T), and four-terminal (4T) cell architecture is conceivable. The 3T architecture featuring a combination of parallel and series interconnection combines the advantageous of 2T and 4T cells without their drawbacks. We build a photovoltaic (PV) module with silicon solar cells in a 3T tandem solar cell interconnection configuration (3TTSC PV module) to emulate a solar module with 20 3TTSC. To the best of our knowledge, no 3TTSC PV module with more than five solar cells has been shown in previous studies. We measure the effect of partially shading a 3TTSC in this module and develop an electrical simulation to model our experimental results. In the simulations we determine the dissipated power in the top and bottom cells due to the current mismatch caused by partial shading. Our results reveal that the shaded top and bottom cell as well as the adjacent top cell dissipate power when a single 3TTSC is shaded. The two top cells share the dissipated power. Our simulated power dissipation correlates with temperature measurements of the 3TTSC PV module in a steady-state sun simulator. Therefore, in a 3TTSC PV module the temperature of a shaded cell is lower than in a module with 2T configuration. This is an advantage of PV modules with 3T tandem solar cells in terms of reliability and long-term stability.

AB - We examine the electrical and thermal characteristics of a photovoltaic module with three-terminal cell interconnection when partially shading a solar cell by experimentally verified modeling. For the interconnection of multi junction and tandem solar cells a two- (2T), three- (3T), and four-terminal (4T) cell architecture is conceivable. The 3T architecture featuring a combination of parallel and series interconnection combines the advantageous of 2T and 4T cells without their drawbacks. We build a photovoltaic (PV) module with silicon solar cells in a 3T tandem solar cell interconnection configuration (3TTSC PV module) to emulate a solar module with 20 3TTSC. To the best of our knowledge, no 3TTSC PV module with more than five solar cells has been shown in previous studies. We measure the effect of partially shading a 3TTSC in this module and develop an electrical simulation to model our experimental results. In the simulations we determine the dissipated power in the top and bottom cells due to the current mismatch caused by partial shading. Our results reveal that the shaded top and bottom cell as well as the adjacent top cell dissipate power when a single 3TTSC is shaded. The two top cells share the dissipated power. Our simulated power dissipation correlates with temperature measurements of the 3TTSC PV module in a steady-state sun simulator. Therefore, in a 3TTSC PV module the temperature of a shaded cell is lower than in a module with 2T configuration. This is an advantage of PV modules with 3T tandem solar cells in terms of reliability and long-term stability.

KW - 3-terminal solar cell

KW - PV module reliability

KW - Solar module interconnection

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85092103518&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110811

DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2020.110811

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85092103518

VL - 219

JO - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

JF - Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

SN - 0927-0248

M1 - 110811

ER -