Environmental stressors are important when estimating the durability of solar modules with time. Scientists have now figured how to mathematically calculate solar module lifespan considering these environmental phenomena.
But are the results reliable lifespan predictions?
Owners of installed solar panels would like to get the most from their investment before they run out of ‘juice’. But how long does a solar module really last? Well this research is seeking to give us exact figures and not vague estimates.
The Fraunhofer Institute research explains:
Most manufacturers guarantee a lifetime of up to 25 years to their customers, the manufacturers themselves cannot make reliable predictions about the expected operating life. The modules must fulfill certain standards, of course, to be approved for operation. This involves exposing them in various trials to high temperatures and high mechanical loading. "Using a dual approach, we combine actual measurements with a numeric simulation," according to Fromm – researcher at the institute. The research investigates how mechanical loading affects units in field tests. This is because snow loads, temperature fluctuations, and wind gusts create mechanical stresses and associated strain and elongation in the modules.
This leads to material fatigue in the long term. Both the plastic embedding material and the cell connectors in particular -- thin strips of copper that connect the solar cells to one another -- are susceptible. It is like continually bending a paper clip back and forth. At some point, it breaks.
Study Credit:
Alexander Fromm at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM -- funded by Germany's Federal Environment Ministry (BMU).
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