Understanding and preventing PV module glass fracture
PV module glass breakage has long been an observed failure mode in fielded solar projects. In recent years, however, the nature and causes of solar glass fracture have
Glass/Glass modules withstand air and moisture and offer best cell protection, while plastic backsheets of glass/foil modules become porous. The Glass/Glass composite protects solar cells against micro cracks and thus ensures long-term operating life of 40 years and more.
As an example, module manufacturers have largely continued to treat solar glass as a commodity—meaning it is rarely subject to batch traceability or lot tracking—even though tempering process control becomes more important as modules get bigger, as shown in Figure 6.
Glass/glass (G/G) photovoltaic (PV) module construction is quickly rising in popularity due to increased demand for bifacial PV modules, with additional applications for thin-film and building-integrated PV technologies.
In recent years, however, the nature and causes of solar glass fracture have changed in alarming and unsustainable ways. Given the scale of the global market, increasing solar glass failure rates have the potential to become a major reliability issue for manufacturers, developers, owners, insurers and investors.
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