Thermal performance of integral bypass diode solar cell modules

✍ Scribed by M.A. Green; E. Suryanto Hasyim; S.R. Wenham

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1986
• Weight: 637 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0379-6787
• DOI: 10.1016/0379-6787(86)90053-0

✦ Synopsis

Without appropriate protection, solar cell arrays can be vulnerable to thermal instability because of mismatched cell characteristics caused by effects such as cell cracking or partial shading of the array. The normal method of protecting against such thermal instability in both small and large arrays is to include bypass diodes across groups of series-connected cells. Experimental results are described for the thermal performance of a novel approach whereby bypass diodes are integrated into the solar cell structure during cell fabrication. The main conclusion is that the present integral bypass diode approach automatically protects against thermal instability in both small and large arrays without the need for any other protective measures. This is in addition to the improved tolerance of the array output power to partial shading.