3 ms·
Except when they are destroyed by a storm, etc., what makes a solar panel go bad? Is there a chemical reaction inside that consumes something (that could maybe
by bambax 8y ago
Except when they are destroyed by a storm, etc., what makes a solar panel go bad? Is there a chemical reaction inside that consumes something (that could maybe be refilled) or is it just the fact that they are exposed to the elements (and so maybe they should be made stronger)?
- Someone 8y agohttps://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2017/06/causes-solar-panel-degradation/ https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2017/06/causes-solar-p...: ”According to NREL, modules can fail because of unavoidable elements like thermal cycling, damp heat, humidity freeze and UV exposure. Thermal cycling can cause solder bond failures and cracks in solar cells. Damp heat has been associated with delamination of encapsulants and corrosion of cells. Humidity freezing can cause junction box adhesion to fail. UV exposure contributes to discoloration and backsheet degradation.”
- ginko 8y agoSeems like quite a few of these could be avoided by regular maintenance.
- baybal2 8y agoNo, the biggest killer of PV cells is natural degradation Photons and other energetic particles knock Silicon atoms out of lattice, and tear the junction layer. There is no 100% efficient trick against that so far in any common semiconductor. Lithium dopant was once used in space PV cells. It almost halves the decay rate, but even that was not considered enough to warrant using it over simply having bigger area of less durable, but more efficient cells.
- jplayer01 8y agoElectronic devices undergo decay like anything else. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_of_electronic_components https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_of_electronic_componen... It's unavoidable.