DUPONT GLOBAL PV RELIABILITY

2018 Field Analysis

Executive Summary

Since 2011, in collaboration with field partners, customers, downstream developers,

universities and national labs, DuPont has conducted worldwide field surveys to inspect,
assess and understand the state of degradation of fielded PV modules.

We have looked at PV modules of varying ages and with different bills of materials in a variety of geographies and
climates—from North America and Europe to the Middle East and Asia. To date we have surveyed more than 4.2 million
panels from 275 solar fields and 79 module manufacturers, accounting for over 1.04 GW of potential power production.

4.2M
PANELS
FROM 275
SOLAR
AND 79
MODULE
EQUALS 1.04GW
POTENTIAL POWER
SURVEYED FIELDS MANUFACTURERS PRODUCTION
The program is one of the most thorough of its kind. It is guided by a multistep inspection protocol, and resulting data are
analyzed using a variety of criteria, including component, material, mounting, time in service and climate.

A key learning from the program has been that high temperature and UV exposure are critical environmental factors affecting
the performance of polymeric materials in panels.

Field studies conducted by DuPont clearly demonstrate that modules with different materials behave differently in the field.
Low-quality, unproven materials degrade quickly when exposed to environmental stresses, which can negatively impact the
modules’ safety and power generation performance.

A large percentage of installations less than five years old exhibited material-level defects, highlighting compromises made
by module suppliers in recent years.
2018 Study
Installation ages of the modules surveyed ranged from newly commissioned to 35 years; the average age of modules surveyed
was 3.3 years.

Compared to the field survey published in 2016:

• Backsheet defects increased by 27%, although the overall module defect rate remained unchanged.

• Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and polyamide (PA) backsheet defects increased by 51% and 18%, respectively.

Backsheets made with DuPont™ Tedlar® maintained the lowest overall defect rate despite their use in the oldest installations
surveyed and their longest time in the field.

Defect Categories
Defects observed in the 2018 study were organized into the following categories:

1.
Cell/interconnect defects
Corrosion, hot spots, snail trails,
broken interconnects, cracks,
burn marks, delamination
Snail trails Ribbon corrosion ARC delamination

2.
Backsheet defects

Cracking, delamination,
yellowing, inner-layer cracking
Airside yellowing/ Cracking Delamination
Frontside yellowing

3.
Encapsulant defects

Discoloration, yellowing,
delamination
Yellowing Delamination Delamination
from cell from glass

4.
Other defects

Glass defects, loss of AR coating,

junction box defects
Junction box melting Cable corrosion Glass breakage
Defect Rates Encapsulant 1.3% Other Defects 0.4%

In 2018, the overall rate of module defects Backsheet 9.5%

observed was 22.3%. The rate of backsheet

defects, however, increased by 27%, from Cell 12%
7.5% to 9.5%.

No Defects 76.8%

60
Backsheet Defects by Material 56

PET (av. panel age: 2.1 years) and PVDF 50

45.7
PA = Polyamide
PVDF = Polyvinylidene Difluoride
(av. panel age: 2.8 years) had defect rates PET = Polyethylene Terephthalate
40
70 and 200 times higher, respectively, than
% Defect Rate

35 FEVE = Fluoroethylene Vinylether

Tedlar® (av. panel age: 5.6 years), despite 30

30.3

their lower average ages. 22.6

Tedlar Defects
®

20

Significantly higher rates for PET, PVDF 12.8

10.6
10
and glass for ages >4 years of service. 3.4 3.1 2.3
0.05
0
PA Glass PVDF PET FEVE Tedlar ®

4+ Years in Service All Service Years

Backsheet Defects by Panel Age Tedlar in the field (35 years)

®

PET (31 years)

The study found that defect rates in PVDF, PVDF (9 years)
PET and PA backsheets increased with age. PA (9 years) PET PVDF PA Tedlar ®

Tedlar® backsheets maintained low defect 100

rates even after 30+ years in service.

% Backsheet Defects

80

60

40

20

0
0-2 2-4 4-6 6-10 10-15 15-30+
Years Installed
Backsheet Defects by Mounting Location
Roof-mounted systems evidenced an overall higher defect rate than ground installations. The rate of backsheet defects
was more than 2.5 times higher on roof-mounted systems, likely due to higher operating temperatures accelerating degradation.

Roof-Mounted Panel Defects Ground-Mounted Panel Defects

Cell 9.7% Cell 11.9%

Backsheet 22.3% Backsheet 9.2%

Encapsulant 0.3% Encapsulant 1.3%

Other Defects 0.1%
Other Defects 0.4%

No Defects 67.6% No Defects 77.2%

Backsheet Defects by Climate 20

The survey classified PV defect rates in three climate

types: Hot Arid, Tropical, and Temperate. These climate 15
types represented a simplification of the 29 climate zones
% Defect Rate

identified in the Köppen Climate Classification System.

10

In general, backsheets were more affected by climate than

cells and encapsulants. Backsheet defects were highest in 5
Hot Arid climates.

0
Hot Arid Tropical Temperate
Hot Arid Tropical Temperate Other
To learn more about DuPont Photovoltaic Solutions,
visit photovoltaics.dupont.com

Copyright © 2018 DuPont. All rights reserved. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont and Tedlar
™ ®

are trademarks or registered trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates. (10/18)