Performance of Carbon-Nanotube-Reinforced Composite Gridlines on PERC Cells, Mini-Modules, and Full-Sized Modules

Cell cracks reduce power production from PV systems worldwide. The difficult-to-detect and gradual reduction in power production caused by cell cracks has yet to be resolved by module and cell manufacturers, and the ever-growing demand for solar energy continues to climb. To address cell-crack-induced degradation directly, we have formulated a carbon nanotube additive for commercial screen-printable silver pastes. In this work, we highlight the increase in cell efficiency by adding carbon nanotubes and the mitigated power loss from accelerated mini-module fracture testing. We conclude this work with full-sized module certification via a modified IEC 63209 stress testing, digital image correlation to quantify the movement of cell fragments, and field testing.