Temperature coefficient of power (Pmax) of field aged PV modules: impact on performance ratio and degradation rate determinations

The determinations of performance ratio (per IEC 61724 standard) and degradation rate (using slope of performance ratio over time) of photovoltaic (PV) modules in a power plant are computed based on the power (Pmax) temperature coefficient (TC) data of the unexposed modules or the exposed modules during the commissioning time of the plant. The temperature coefficient of Pmax is typically assumed to not change over the lifetime of the module in the field. Therefore, this study was carried out in an attempt to investigate the validity of this assumption and current practice. Several 18-19 years old field aged modules from four different manufacturers were tested for the baseline light I-V measurements and dark I-V measurements to determine the power temperature coefficient and series resistance for each module. Using the dark I-V and light I-V data, the series resistances (Rs) and shunt resistances (Rsh) were calculated in order to determine their impact on fill factor (FF) and hence on Pmax. The result of this work indicates a measurable drop in fill factor (FF) as the series resistance (Rs) increased which in turn increases the temperature coefficient of Pmax. This determination goes against the typical assumption that the temperature coefficient of (Pmax) for aged modules does not change over time. The outcome of this work has a significant implication on the performance ratio and degradation rate determinations based on the temperature coefficient of Pmax of new modules which is not an accurate practice for analyzing field aged modules.