Stability Performance Of Thin-film Photovoltaic Modules At Seri

To monitor the performance and assess the reliability of emerging thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies, commercial and developmental modules of amorphous silicon (a-Si), copper indiurn diselenide (CIS), and cadmium telluride (CdTc) materials are deployed outdoors at the Solar Energy Research Institute's (SERI) PV Outdoor Test Facility. Currently, these materials are the leading thin-film materials for potential cost-effective bulk power PV electricity generation. Achieving 30-year field reliability of photovoltaic modules is one of the major goals of the U.S. Department of Energy's PV research program. This paper summarizes the results of the outdoor stability performance tests conducted at SERI on the thin-film modules.