Study of photovoltaic cell degradation under rapid light variation

During field operation, photovoltaic cells (PVs) are often subject to rapid variations in incident light, due to fast moving clouds. This causes variations in the operating temperature of the PVs as well. In this work we study the effect of rapid concentrated light variation over the PVs as an ageing method. The irradiance and thermal cycles were performed using a self-developed system with a controlled shutter that modulates the highly concentrated light incident on the PVs. Through the load we developed based on the impedance variation of a capacitor and a coil during the charge/discharge process, the main DC and AC parameters of the PVs are monitored in-situ through the I-V characteristics and RLC method measurements. Preliminary results show a degradation of 0.6% of the PVs caused by the light and temperature stress.