Photovoltaic (PV) modules have emerged as an ideal technology of choice
for harvesting vastly available renewable
energy resources. However, the efficiency of PV modules remains significantly lower than that of other renewable energy sources such as wind and hydro. One of the critical elements affecting a
photovoltaic module’s efficiency is the variety of external climatic conditions
under which it is installed. In this work, the effect of simulated snow loads
was evaluated on the performance of PV modules with different types of cells and numbers of busbars. According
to ASTM-1830 and IEC-1215 standards, a load of 5400 Pa was applied to
the surface of PV modules for 3 hours. An indigenously developed pneumatic
airbag test setup was used for the uniform application of this load throughout
the test, which was validated by load cell and pressure gauge.
Electroluminescence (EL) imaging and solar flash tests were performed before
and after the application of load to characterize the performance and effect of
load on PV modules. Based on these tests, the maximum power output, efficiency, fill factor and series resistance were
determined. The results show that polycrystalline modules are the most
likely to withstand the snow loads as compared to monocrystalline PV modules. A
maximum drop of 32.13% in the power output and a 17.6% increase in series
resistance were observed in the modules having more cracks. These findings
demonstrated the efficacy of the newly established test setup and the potential
of snow loads for reducing the overall performance of PV module.
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