A brand new check carried out on France’s oldest PV system reveals that its photo voltaic modules can nonetheless present efficiency values in step with the producers’ guarantees.
From pv journal in France
The French affiliation Hespul was created in 1991 to constructed the primary photovoltaic plant linked to the nationwide grid in France. After the inauguration of the Phébus 1 energy plant on June 14, 1992 in Ain, Hespul determined to develop its exercise to advertise photovoltaics in France, which on the time was virtually non-existent.
The affiliation revealed immediately that about 10 m2 of panels, equal to virtually 1 kW, have been dismantled from the system final 12 months and submitted to a sequence of assessments based on worldwide requirements.
The panels are positioned in a darkish room at a managed temperature and uncovered to a light-weight flash of 1000 W / m2 to measure their most instantaneous energy. This worth is then in contrast with their manufacturing facility measurements.
The assessments have been carried out via a company sponsorship of Certisolis, a France-based certification physique, and French photo voltaic specialist Isowatt, which carried out the flashing of the panels and the disassembly/reassembly, respectively.
The check confirmed that the modules have been nonetheless producing a mean of 79.5% of their preliminary energy after 31 years of operation. In a earlier check carried out 11 years in the past, the panels have been discovered to supply 91.7% of their preliminary energy. “This outcome exceeds the efficiency promised by the producers who say that the panels will preserve 80% of their output after 25 years,” stated Hespul.
The decline in efficiency has averaged 20.5%, or 0.66% per 12 months for 31 years, and 1.11% per 12 months for the final 11 years. For the identical sequence of modules, two classes have been noticed: a section the place the discount in efficiency was very vital after 20 years (1/3 of the modules put in): 33.9% on common in 31 years, or 1.09% per 12 months. And one other whose decline stays per the assessments of 2012: 13% on common in 31 years or 0.42% per 12 months.
“These outcomes affirm the varied scientific research that seek advice from the topic,” continues the affiliation, such because the TISO‐10 (TIcino SOlare) PV system, which was linked to the grid in Switzerland in 1982. The assessments carried out within the Swiss system confirmed variations in efficiency between the modules, attributed to the components within the encapsulants offered by three totally different producers.
Another current examine carried out by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on 1,700 American websites with a complete of seven.2 GW of energy, confirmed a median degradation of round -0.75%/12 months . Moveover, one other analysis targeted on 4,300 residential installations working in Europe and used totally different information processing strategies. Depending on the strategies, a median lack of -0.36% to -0.67%/12 months was obtained.
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