Chi-Hong Park

Operation Characteristics of Bypass Diode for PV Module

In this paper, an I-V characteristics of bypass diode has been studied by counting the shading effect in photovoltaic module. The shadow induces hot spot phenomenon in PV module due to the increase of resistance in the current path. Two different types of PV module with and without bypass diode were fabricated to expect maximum output power with an increasing shading rate of 5 % on the solar cell. Temperature distribution is also detected by shading the whole solar cell for the outdoor test. From the result, the bypass diode works properly over 60 % of shading per cell with constant output power. Maximum power generation in case of solar cell being totally shaded with bypass diode decreases 41.3 % compared with the one under STC(Standard Test Condition). On the other hand, the maximum output power of the module without bypass diode gradually decreases by showing hot spot phenomenon with the increase of shading ratio on the cell and finally indicates 95.5 % of power loss compared with the output under STC. Finally the module temperature measured increases around higher than that under STC due to hot-spots which come from the condition without bypass diode. It has been therefore one of the main reasons for degrading the PV module and shortening the durability of the PV system.

Numerical Analysis of Si-based Photovoltaic Modules with Different Interconnection Methods

This paper investigates the output powers of PV modules by predicting three unknown parameters: reverse saturation current, and series and shunt resistances. A theoretical model using the non-uniform physical parameters of solar cells, including the temperature coefficients, voltage, current, series and shunt resistances, is proposed to obtain the I-V characteristics of PV modules. The solar irradiation effect is included in the model to improve the accuracy of the output power. Analytical and Newton methods are implemented in MATLAB to calculate a module output. Experimental data of the non-uniform solar cells for both serial and parallel connections are used to extend the implementation of the model based on the I-V equation of the equivalent circuit of the cells and to extend the application of the model to m by n modules configuration. Moreover, the theoretical model incorporates, for the first time, the variations of series and shunt resistances, reverse saturation current and irradiation for easy implementation in real power generation. Finally, this model can be useful in predicting the degradation of a PV system because of evaluating the variations of series and shunt resistances, which are critical in the reliability analysis of PV power generation.

Effect of Degraded Al-doped ZnO Thin Films on Performance Deterioration of CIGS Solar Cell

The influence of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films degraded under high temperature and damp heat on the performance deterioration of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells was investigated. CIGS solar cells with AZO/CdS/CIGS/Mo structure were prepared on glass substrate and exposed to high temperature (85℃) and damp heat (85℃/85% RH) for 1000 h. As-prepared CIGS solar cells had 64.91% in fill factor (FF) and 12.04% in conversion efficiency. After exposed to high temperature, CIGS solar cell had 59.14% in FF and 9.78% in efficiency, while after exposed to damp heat, it had 54.00% in FF and 8.78% in efficiency. AZO thin films in the deteriorated CIGS solar cells showed increases in resistivity up to 3.1 times and 4.4 times compared to their initial resistivity after 1000 h of high temperature and damp heat exposure, respectively. These results can be explained by the decreases in carrier concentration and mobility due to diffusion or adsorption of oxygen and moisture in AZO thin films. It can be inferred that decreases in FF and conversion efficiency were caused by an increase in series resistance, which resulted from an increase in resistivity of AZO thin films degraded under high temperature and damp heat.

Electrical Characteristics of c-Si PV Module for the Spread of Natural Light Spectrum

Recently, characteristic research by the changes in the spectrum, one of the factors that influence analysis of maximum output power of PV module, has been studied. In this paper, a one-day intensity of solar irradiation, change of spectrums with time and electrical output for spectrums are analyzed. As a result, blue-rich wavelength compared with red-rich wavelength has large variation of solar irradiance with time, so we recognized that change of solar irradiance is dominated by variation of blue~rich wavelength. Also in same intensity of solar irradiance, electrical output in blue-rich wavelength was 3-8 % higher than one in red-rich wavelength.