Extending Lifetime and Performance: Breaking Down the Photovoltaic Module

The standard lifetime of conventional photovoltaic systems is now 25 years – a timespan that reflects the point at which a module outputs 80% of its original rated power. This lifetime is used by downstream players to determine the financials of an installations, making it integral to an investor that modules perform as predicted over the 25-year period. The key determinant of a module’s degradation is at the module level – how the cells are interconnected and what materials are used in their packaging. As photovoltaic deployment expands globally, questions have arisen around how degradation is environment-dependent and how prevalent modes of degradation can be prevented. This report looks at current trends in the research community and industry in addressing degradation and improving performance. We assess the environment-related performance of five module architectures and identify market opportunities for their adoption.