Broken glass on photovoltaic double glass

Can a glass breakage damage a PV module?

Glass breakage, without any extreme weather event or other obvious cause, is being reported on a small yet significant number of PV projects. This issue comes with the potential to damage PV module performance in the long term, or even cause safety hazards – and we will need to act fast to find both the cause and a practical solution.

Are glass-glass PV modules a problem?

Unfortunately, glass-glass PV modules are, similar to regular PV modules, subject to early life failures. A failure of growing concern are defects in the glass layer (s) of PV modules. The scale of decommissioned PV modules with glass defects will increase with the development of solar PV energy [ 7 ].

What happens if glass breaks in solar panels?

The researchers explained that glass breakage in glass-glass solar panels may lead to the disruption of the insulation of the encapsulant layer, which would cause the penetration of water and humidity in the modules, or the creation of microcracks in the solar cells, which would be highly detrimental to their performance.

Does glass defect reparation damage PV cells?

Furthermore, the research analyzed the economic and energetic impact of glass defect reparation in comparison with regular substitution. We found that glass-glass PV modules which endured glass defects did not show performance loss, nor internal damage to the PV cells.

How do glass defects affect a PV system?

Glass defects impact the economic performance of a PV system in multiple ways. The most obvious effect is the potential (in)direct performance loss of PV modules, which results in reduced economic revenues. Secondly, PV modules that suffer from glass defects may no longer meet safety requirements, therefore these modules are replaced.

Can glass-glass photovoltaic modules be repaired?

The scientists introduced the new approach in the study “ Experimental repair technique for glass defects of glass-glass photovoltaic modules – A techno-economic analysis ,” published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. “Overall, the first indicators for a technically feasible and effective repair technique are positive,” they concluded.