Usage of Highly Accelerated Stress Test (HAST) in Solar Module Ageing Procedures

Abstract

In this thesis the correlation between two accelerated ageing methods are established. The concept is to carry out the Damp Heat test and the Highly Accelerated Stress Test in order to accelerate the time of testing for solar module production. The choice of materials fell on four types of mini modules to be tested, three with standard embedding materials and one with naked cells. All of the samples had the same type of cells, glass and back sheet foil. The tests were carried out and measurements were made at specific times in order to compare the results. Measurements of transmittance, IV-characteristics, electroluminescence and a visual control were performed.