• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1894-1903
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• 2016

In general, electrolytic capacitors are used to reduce power pulsations on PV-panels. However, this can reduce the reliability of the PV AC-module system, because electrolytic capacitors have a shorter lifetime than PV-panels. In addition, PV-panels generate irregular power and inject it into the grid because the output power of a PV-panel depends on the surrounding conditions such as irradiation and temperature. To solve these problems, a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) AC-module with active power decoupling and energy storage is proposed. A parallel bi-directional converter is connected to the AC module to reduce the output power pulsations of PV-panels. Thus, the electrolytic capacitor can be replaced with a film capacitor. In addition, the irregular output power due to the surrounding conditions can be regulated by using a parallel energy storage circuit. To maintain the discontinuous conduction mode at low irradiation, the frequency control method is adopted. The design method of the proposed converter and the operation principles are introduced. An experimental prototype rated at 125W was built to verify the performance of the proposed converter.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.46-50
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• 2019

The photovoltaic (PV) system consists of solar cells, solar modules, inverters and peripherals. The related evaluation and certification are proceeding as standards published by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) TC (Technical Committee) 82. In particular, PV module is a component that requires stable durability over 20 years, and evaluation in various external environments is very important. Currently, IEC 61215-based standards are being tested, but temperature, humidity, wind and solar radiation conditions are not considered in all areas. For this reason, various types of defects may occur depending on the installation area of the same photovoltaic module. In particular, the domestic climate (South Korea) is moderate. The various test methods proposed by IEC 61215 are appropriate, excessive, or insufficient, depending on environmental condition. In this paper, we analyze the climate data collection for one year to understand the vulnerability of this test method of PV modules. Through this, we propose a test method for PV module suitable for domestic climatic conditions and also propose a technical consideration for installation and design of PV system.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2008.07a
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• pp.1108-1109
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• 2008

To survive in outdoor environments, photovoltaic modules rely on packaging materials to provide requisite durability. We analyzed the properties of encapsulant materials that are important for photovoltaic module packaging. Recently, the thickness of solar cell gets thinner to reduce the quantity of silicon. And the reduced thickness make it easy to be broken while PV module fabrication process. Solar cell's micro cracks are increasing the breakage risk over the whole value chain from the wafer to the finished module, because the wafer or cell is exposed to tensile stress during handling and processing. This phenomenon might make PV module's maximum power and durability down. So, when using thin solar cell for PV module fabrication, it is needed to optimize the material and fabrication condition which is quite different from normal thick solar cell process. Normally, gel-content of EVA sheet should be higher than 80% so PV module has long term durability. But high gel-content characteristic might cause micro-crack on solar cell. In this experiment, we fabricated several specimen by varying curing temperature and time condition. And from the gel-content measurement, we figure the best fabrication condition. Also we examine the crack generation phenomenon during experiment.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.47-57
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• 2017

CIGS thin film solar cells are technically suitable for BIPV applications than regularly used crystalline silicon solar cells. Particularly, CIGS PV has lower temperature coefficient than crystalline silicon PV, thus decrease in power generation is lowered in CIGS PV. Moreover, CIGS PV can decrease shading loss when applied to the BIPV system, and the total annual power generation is higher than crystalline silicon. However, there are few studies on the installation factors affecting the performance of BIPV system with CIGS module. In this study, BIPV curtain wall unit with CIGS PV module was designed. To prevent increase of temperature of CIGS PV module by solar radiation, ventilation was considered at the backside of the unit. The thermal specification and electrical performance of CIGS PV of the ventilated unit was analyzed experimentally. Non-ventilated unit was also investigated and compared with ventilated unit. The results showed that the average CIGS temperature of the ventilated curtain wall unit was $6.8^{\circ}C$ lower than non-ventilated type and the efficiency and power generation performance of ventilated CIGS PV on average was, respectively, about 6% and 5.8% higher than the non-ventilated type.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.397-402
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• 2005

Photovoltaic (PV) module can generate electricity using sunlight without causing any environmental degradation. Due to higher fossil fuel prices and environmental awareness, PV applications are becoming more popular as clean source of electricity generation. PV output is sensitive to the operating temperature and can be drastically affected in Building Integrated PV (BIPV) systems. PV Solarwall (SWPV) combination and PV systems have been evaluated in this study for improvement in electrical output and system costs. PV modules under forced ventilation. A 75W polycrystalline silicon PV module was fixed on SW in front of the ventilation fan as it was indicated to be the coolest position on the SW in phoenix simulations. The effectiveness of cooling by means of the forced ventilating air stream has been studied experimentally. The results indicate that there appears to be significant difference in temperature as well as electricity output comparing the SWPV and BIPV options. Electrical output power recovered is about $4\%$ during the typical day of the month of February. RETScreen(R) analysis of a 3kW PV system hypothetically located at Taegu has shown that with typical temperature reduction of $15^{{\circ}C$, it is possible to reduce the simple payback periods by one year. The work described in this paper may be viewed as an appraisal of a SWPV system based on its improved electrical and financial performances due to its ability to operate at relatively lower temperatures.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers P
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• v.67 no.1
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• pp.33-36
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to improve the efficiency of anti-pollution film for PV module. The anti-pollution coating process was performed on a glass substrate, which is the same material as the glass substrate for the PV module. We coated the anti-pollution film on the glass substrate by spray coating. After coating process, annealing process was performed during 1 hour at $200^{\circ}C$, $300^{\circ}C$, and $400^{\circ}C$. And then we analyzed the surface characteristics according to the annealing temperature of the film. Annealing process can also improve the durability of the coated film. And then we analyzed the anti-pollution characteristics, particle size of anti-pollution film, light transmittance. The particle size of anti-pollution film was analyzed with FE-SEM. The light transmittance was analyzed with UV-Visible spectroscopy including integrating sphere.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2008

In this paper, an I-V characteristics of bypass diode has been studied by counting the shading effect in photovoltaic module. The shadow induces hot spot phenomenon in PV module due to the increase of resistance in the current path. Two different types of PV module with and without bypass diode were fabricated to expect maximum output power with an increasing shading rate of 5 % on the solar cell. Temperature distribution is also detected by shading the whole solar cell for the outdoor test. From the result, the bypass diode works properly over 60 % of shading per cell with constant output power. Maximum power generation in case of solar cell being totally shaded with bypass diode decreases 41.3 % compared with the one under STC(Standard Test Condition). On the other hand, the maximum output power of the module without bypass diode gradually decreases by showing hot spot phenomenon with the increase of shading ratio on the cell and finally indicates 95.5 % of power loss compared with the output under STC. Finally the module temperature measured increases around $10^{\circ}C$ higher than that under STC due to hot-spots which come from the condition without bypass diode. It has been therefore one of the main reasons for degrading the PV module and shortening the durability of the PV system.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.343-349
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• 2014

It is summarized that potential causes of performance degradations and failure mechanisms of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) modules installed in Middle East area. In addition, we also reviewed current PV module qualification test (IEC 61215) and the methods for detection of wear-out fault. The failure of PV modules in the extreme environmental conditions such as deserts is mainly due to high temperature, humidity, and dust storms. In particular, cementation phenomenon caused by combination of sand and moisture leads to rapid degradation in the performance of PV modules. In order to evaluate and guarantee the long term reliability of PV modules, specific qualification tests such as sand dust test, salt mist test and potential induce degradation test considering operating environment of PV module should be carried out.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.39-42
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• 2018

When the PV module is illuminated in a high temperature region, solar cells are also exposed to the high temperature external environment. The operating temperature of the solar cell inside the module is increased, which causes the power drops. Various efforts have been made to reduce the operating temperature and compensate the power of solar cells according to the outdoor temperature such as installing of a cooling system. Researches have been also reported to lower the operating temperature of solar cells by improving the heat dissipation properties of the backsheet. In this study, we conducted a test to measure the internal temperature of each module components and the external temperature when the light was irradiated according to the surrounding temperature. Backsheets with different thermal conductivities were compared in the test. Finally, in order to explain the temperature difference between the solar cell and the outside of the module, we proposed an evaluation method of the heat transfer characteristics of photovoltaic modules with different backsheet.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.25-30
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• 2011

In this paper, we analyzed the electrical characteristics with Micro-cracks in Photovoltaic module. Micro cracks are increasing the breakage risk over the whole value chine from the wafer to the finished module, because the wafer or cell is exposed to mechanical stress. And The solar cells have to with stand the stress under out door operation in the finished module. Here the mechanical stress is induced by temperature changes and mechanical loads from wind and snow. So, we experimentally analyze the direct impact of micro-cracks on the module power and the consequences after artificial aging. The first step, we made micro-cracks in PV module by mechanical load test according to IEC 61215. Next, PV modules applied the thermal cycling test, because micro-cracks accelerated aging by thermal cycling test, according to IEC61215. Before every test, we checked output and EL image of PV module. As the result of first step, we detected little power loss(0.9%). But after thermal cycling test increased power loss about 3.2%.