A New Combined Accelerated Stress Test Sequence for Rapid Reliability Screening of Photovoltaic Materials

As the global photovoltaic installed capacity continues to grow, reaching terawatt levels from gigawatt, the search for advancements in technology and cost reductions in the photovoltaic (PV) industry is ongoing. To keep up with these advancements, it is essential to develop accelerated testing methods for rapid reliability assessment of PV materials. To address this need, we propose a new combined accelerated stress test sequence that incorporates UV into stress steps of damp heat (DH), thermal cycling (TC), and humidity freeze (HF) based on the EC63209-1 sequence 3, as a rapid screening method for the reliability of PV materials. This approach has demonstrated its effectiveness by reproducing various failure modes including backsheet cracking, encapsulant delamination, yellowing and insulation failure of the junction box and connector.