Effect of irradiance, temperature exposure and an Arrhenius approach to estimating weathering acceleration factor of Glass, EVA and Tedlar in a composite climate of India

Accelerated testing (AT) of the Photovoltaic (PV) module is an important procedure to know the effect of weather under outdoor exposure. The module/cell temperature depends on the environmental parameters such as ambient temperature, global irradiation, wind velocity, type of mounting configuration and type of technology. In this paper, the effect of irradiance, temperature and estimate acceleration factor of Glass, EVA and Tedlar of mono-crystalline silicon (sc-Si) PV modules have been studied to trail the Arrhenius behavior in indoor/outdoor operation for a composite climate at the National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon, India. The irradiance and temperature of the Glass/cell/polymer-sheet and Glass/cell/glass have been calculated using equivalent (Teq) and effective (Teff) temperature. The maximum Teq and Teff temperature is found to be 49.40 °C and 54.95 °C for the 50.1 kJ/mol activation energy for Glass/cell/ polymer sheet. Similarly, 51.2 °C and 57.2 °C are the maximum values of Teq and Teff are found in Glass/cell/glass for 50.1 kJ/mol activation energy. In the present study, 50.1 kJ/mol for Glass/cell/polymer sheet configuration required more time to simulate outdoor exposure in comparison to other values of activation energy.