Determination of Yearly Degradation Rate of Electrical Parameters of Amorphous Silicon (a-si) Photovoltaic Module in Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

There is need for accurate knowledge of degradation rate and lifespan of photovoltaic (PV) module in every location for an effective solar PV power system. Outdoor degradation analysis was carried out on amorphous silicon PV module rated 10 W using CR1000 software-based Data Acquisition System (DAS). The PV module under test and meteorological Sensors were installed on a metal support structure at the same test plane. The data monitoring was from 09:00 to 18:00 hours each day continuously for a period of four years, from December 2014 to November 2018. Annual yearly averages of the performance variables were carried out to ascertain the degradation rate and lifespan of the module. It was observed that Open-Circuit voltage (Voc), Short-Circuit Current (Isc), Power-Output (P), Maximum Voltage (Vmax), Maximum Current (Imax ) Maximum Power (Pmax), fill-factor (FF) and Efficiency has average yearly degradation of 2.34V, 0.021A, 0.185W, 2.35V, 0.70A, 0.236W, 2.551 and 0.011%.