A Study of the Electrical Output and Reliability Characteristics of the Crystalline Photovoltaic Module According to the Front Materials

In recent years, various types of installations such as floating photovoltaic (PV) and agri-voltaic systems, and BIPV (building integrated photovoltaic system) have been implemented in PV systems and, accordingly, there is a growing demand for new PV designs and materials. In particular, in order to install a PV module in a building, it is important to reduce the weight of the module. The PV module in which low-iron, tempered glass is applied to the front surface, which is generally used, has excellent electrical output and reliability characteristics; however, it is heavy. In order to reduce the weight of the PV module, it is necessary to use a film or plastic-based material, as opposed to low-iron, tempered glass, on the front surface. However, if a material other than glass is used on the front of the PV module, various problems such as reduced electrical output and reduced reliability may occur. Therefore, in this paper, a PV module using a film instead of glass as the front surface was fabricated, and a characteristic analysis and reliability test were conducted. First, the transmittance and UV characteristics of each material were tested, and one-cell and 24-cell PV modules were fabricated and tested for electrical output and reliability. From the results, it was found that the transmittance and UV characteristics of the front material were excellent. In addition, the electrical output and reliability test results confirmed that the front-surface film was appropriate for use in a PV module.