• Pattabhi Ramaiah Budarapu, Indian Institute Of Technology Bhubaneswar
• Naresh Varma Datla
• Marco Paggi

Cell cracking is an important problem in manufacturing the Silicon based photovoltaic (PV) modules, which impacts the yield strength and hinders progress towards the use of thinner Silicon wafers. Cracks can interrupt the grid lines, creating large portions of electrically insulated areas, and hence impacting the electric performance of PV modules. The orientation of cracks plays a key role in determining their criticality. On the other hand, interfacial debonding occurs due to either imperfect bonding or exposure to aggressive environments such as combined temperature, moisture, and mechanical loads. The diffused water within the encapsulant materials react with the coupling agents to form acetic acid, which can then initiate the hydrolysis of siloxane bonds at the EVA-glass interface that lead to delamination. Imperfect sealing combined with the water diffusing along the encapsulant interface induces the chemical degradation at the electric contacts. Therefore, the main focus of this mini-symposium is on identifying and estimating the degradation mechanisms of photovoltaic modules and their causes, along with their impact on the power output characteristics. In this context, we encourage the papers related to (but not limited) the following areas.

・Material degradation mechanisms and their causes
・Interfacial debonding and water diffusion studies in PV modules
・Multiscale and multiphysics computational methods to predict the performance characteristics of defective PV cells
・Image analysis and artificial intelligence to analyse silicon cracks and the potential electrically inactive areas
・Correlations between field data of PV modules and environmental conditions
・Validation studies with lab and outdoor tests