1 20/04/2012

Characterization of bifacial modules of

different architectures

Bruno Soria

Yannick Veschetti

Paul Lefillastre

Eric Gerritsen

Cell & Module Laboratory

French National Institute for Solar Energy

24th April 2012

2 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

60’s 2008 FUTURE

- Context and aim of the study -

70’s

Aim of this study :

• Comparing different architectures

of bifacial modules.

• Studying the potential of a new

characterization setup on solar

simulator.

3 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

1. Cell and module architecture

2. Standard indoor characterization

3. Bifacial indoor characterization

4. Outdoor tests and follow up

- Content -

4 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

1. Cell and module architecture

2. Standard indoor characterization

3. Bifacial indoor characterization

4. Outdoor tests and follow up

- Content -

5 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

- Cell and module architecture -

N-type PERT bifacial cells

Boron emitter

156PSQ Cz substrates

Efficiency of 92% FAR/FAV

Symetrical rear and front grid

Substrate features Measurement Jsc (mA/cm²) Voc (mV) FF (%) η (%)

Cz , 239.6 cm² FAV 38.8 627.4 77 18.7

FAR 35.3 624.5 78 17.2

Si(n) Phosphorus BSF

Boron Emitter

Thermal SiO2\ SiNx

Rear s.p. grid

Front s.p. grid

Thermal SiO2 \ SiNx ARC

Strongly influenced by chuck reflectivity and surface contacts

6 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

- Cell and module architecture -

NICE technology :

Lower material and process cost

Recycling possibility

STANDARD technology (APOLLON SOLAR)

Architecture

Advantages

PIB rub

glass

PRESSED

EVA UV clear

LAMINATED

glass

EVA UV clear :

glass glass

Module NOT OPTIMISED :

No AR coating on glass

Depression inside

Black PIB rub

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- Cell and module architecture -

UP - UP UP – DOWN (patent Kopecek)

Interesting with NICE technology

(mechanical contact)

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- Cell and module architecture -

STANDARD technology

UP - UP UP - DOWN UP - UP UP - DOWN

FRONT

REAR

9 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

1. Cell and module architecture

2. Standard indoor characterization

3. Bifacial indoor characterization

4. Outdoor tests and follow up

- Content -

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- Standard indoor characterization -

• Module : front & rear independently

with black mask around cells

and black mask on backside

• Set up : PASAN Class IIIb solar simulator

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- Standard indoor characterization -

STANDARD technology

UP - UP UP - DOWN UP - UP UP - DOWN

12 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

Standard – UP UP

Standard – UP DOWN

• UP DOWN -> flat

- Standard indoor characterization -

• UP UP -> not flat

Repartition of ratio :

From front anf rear spectral responses :

[similar shapes for NICE]

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1. Cell and module architecture

2. Standard indoor characterization

3. Bifacial indoor characterization

4. Outdoor tests and follow up

- Content -

14 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

- Bifacial indoor characterization -

Set up : PASAN Class IIIb + MOUNTING => creating a standard optical environment

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- Bifacial indoor characterization -

Ibifacial = Ifront + Irear

Vbifacial = av (Vfront, Vrear)

STANDARD technology

UP - UP UP - DOWN UP - UP UP - DOWN

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UP DOWN architecture

UP UP architecture

Front illumination Back illumination Bifacial illumination

Front illumination Back illumination Bifacial illumination

- Bifacial indoor characterization -

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- Bifacial indoor characterization -

Black White Alu

diffuse

Alu

specular

[similar for NICE]

24th April 2012

18 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

Set up limitations :

- Irradiation correction : 2 monitor cells in the

module plane

- Uniformity of irradiance ? To be measured soon

- Spectral mismatch due to mirror

- Size of set up for real size modules

- Bifacial indoor characterization -

Further studies :

Influence of the ANGLE

19 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

1. Cell and module architecture

2. Standard indoor characterization

3. Bifacial indoor characterization

4. Outdoor tests and follow up

- Content -

20 24th April 2012 bruno.soria@cea.fr

- Outdoor tests -

Coming soon, case study :

BIFACIAL vertically installed EAST – WEST

Advantages :

• no snow, no dust,…

• better match with electrical consumption

Aim :

LINKED

WITH ?

Possible to avoid long term outdoor test to measure potential of bifacial modules ?

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Importance of ambient diffuse light (white : +10%)

Outdoor tests on small bifacial modules so far :

- Outdoor tests -

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REFERENCE

First results :

• White : +10% than REF

• Black : -10% than REF

Module bifacial

Bureaux

Module bifacial

Bureaux

Ongoing test : BIFACIAL BIPV

- Outdoor tests -

Case study

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Comparison of modules :

Proof of concept : NICE bifacial UP DOWN => can be improved !

Performance on bifacial illumination : UP DOWN ~ UP UP

Gain bifacial / monofacial : UP DOWN > UP UP

New characterization setup :

Bifacial illumination (2 mirrors) => no Jsc limitation => no FF increase

Several possible configurations : surfaces, angles,…

up to 40% gain due to white surface on back side

Outdoor tests : possible to predict outdoor gain with indoor setup ?

- Conclusion and perspectives -

Merci de votre attention

24 20/04/2012

Many thanks for your attention !

Acknowledgements :

Guillaume RAZONGLES, Yves DELESSE (Solar System Lab - INES)

Brigitte ASSOA, Florian SAINT-PIERRE (Energy Building Lab - INES)

Armand BETTINELLI (PV Cell Lab – INES)

Jean-Emmanuel BROQUIN (Minatec – Grenoble INP)

Oleksiy NICHIPORUK (nichiporuk@apollonsolar.com), Julien DUPUIS (dupuis@apollonsolar.com)

CONTACT : bruno.soria@cea.fr