Hello solar enthusiasts and eco-warriors, welcome back to the blog where we shed light on everything solar, from the nitty-gritty details to prime solutions by leading solar companies for your homes. Today, we’re going to dig into a concern currently going around in the solar industry about an unexpected phenomena – spontaneous glass breakage in solar panels.
Recently, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) reported an uptick in issues regarding spontaneous glass breakage in solar panels. The Renewable Energy Test Centre (RETC), in its annual PV Module Index, further substantiated this trend, citing a growing incidence of solar glass malfunctioning in the field. The troubling part? This is happening even before initial commissioning in many cases.
Teresa Barnes, Ph.D., the woman spearheading the Photovoltaic Reliability and System Performance Group at NREL, spoke about this emerging concern. A few years back, glass breakage was rarely mentioned unless it was a direct result of improper maintenance. Now, the landscape is changing. NREL’s team is frequently getting reports of silicon module glass breakage unrelated to direct physical impacts. The scary implication? The average quality of solar glass appears to be steadily declining.
To better understand this, let’s make an analogy with a car windshield. A small impact often results in a tiny star-shaped mark—a minor flaw. However, as weather conditions fluctuate from high to abysmally low, this seemingly insignificant flaw is fully exposed, leading to a large, visible crack across the entire surface. Barnes believes that this could be a root cause of the surprising solar glass breakage.
The responsibility for this predicament might rest on the trend of solar glass getting thinner. A warning alarm from Mike Pilliod of Central Tension suggests that as glass thins, it becomes more susceptible to strength-limiting flaws. Thanks to NREL’s research, we know these flaws need to be properly considered when using thin glass in solar manufacturing.
Alarmingly, Barnes suggests an amalgamation of factors may explain why glass breakage is becoming more prevalent. With larger modules, thinner frames, and mounting rails creeping closer together, today’s “large, floppy modules” put substantial pressure on the thinning glass surface.
Fortunately, not all is doom and gloom! Manufacturers are starting to talk about making changes, with some suggesting wider mounting positions and thicker frames. This shows a shift towards a more balanced focus on both the module system and the frame’s integrity.
Moreover, some solar companies are launching tempered glass modules, hailed as resistant to extreme weather conditions. One way or another, the industry is looking for solutions.
The RETC recently held a discussion on the catastrophic losses resulting from a hailstorm in Texas. The damage to operational solar assets reached a staggering hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite constituting just 1.4% of total insurance claims, hailstorms account for about 54% of the costs incurred from total solar losses, averaging $58 million per claim.
Interestingly, Barnes mentioned that until as recently as a decade ago, discussions on climate-specific module designs were often sidelined. Today, as we grapple with the reality of climate change, it’s looking more plausible that we could have hail-hardened solar panels. Particularly in regions prone to such extreme conditions, the upfront cost may be worth the long-term benefits.
So, whether you’re in the process of considering a new solar array for your home or managing solar installations on a larger scale, don’t be disheartened. Evidence suggests the industry is alert to these issues and are actively finding solutions to ensure the longevity and reliability of your solar investment. Naturally, in an evolving field like solar, there will be unforeseen challenges, but together we will conquer them one panel at a time.
Till our next solar gossip, stay sunny folks! And remember, the future is bright, the future is solar!
Original Articlehttps://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/06/21/spontaneous-glass-breakage-on-solar-panels-on-the-rise/
