Life prediction of high concentration photovoltaic modules subjected to thermal cycling test

Due to stringent environmental regulations, a solar power plant that produces energy without pollution has gained more attention in recent years. The high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) module is one of the popular solar energy systems due to its small deployed area and high conversion efficiency. However, it may also be subjected to higher temperature in the operating environment. The degradation of the solder layer of the HCPV module would increase its thermal resistance and become the main cause of its reduction in conversion efficiency. In this study, the combination of power and thermal cycling test condition was performed in transient thermal finite element analysis to estimate the variation in junction temperature of a solar cell. The junction temperature could increase due to solder degradation. The lifetime of analyzed HCPV module could be predicted based on the degradation rate of the solder layer.