Manufacturing Induced Bending Stresses: Glass-Glass vs. Glass-Backsheet

The architecture of a photovoltaic module directly influences its mechanical stability, affecting cell crack propagation and contributing to the existence and distribution of stresses. Herein, we evaluate cell deflection using X-Ray Topography (XRT) and compare resulting stresses using both thin-plate theory and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Countering the common belief, we show that glass/glass module architectures exhibit higher bending induced cell stresses during module fabrication. These residual stresses superimpose with stresses experienced in the field and may lead to more frequent cell breakage.