Accelerated testing of module level power electronics for long-term reliability

This work has applied a suite of long-term reliability ATs (accelerated tests) to a variety of MLPE devices (module level power electronics such as microinverters and optimizers) from five different manufacturers. This data set is one of first (only [3] is reported for reliability testing in the literature) as well as the largest experimental set in public literature, both in sample size (5 manufacturers including both DC/DC and DC/AC units and 20 units for each test) as well as number of experiments (6 different experimental test conditions) for MLPE devices. The accelerated stress tests include thermal cycling test per IEC 61215 profile, and damp heat test per IEC 61215 profile and they were performed under powered and unpowered conditions. Included in these experiments are the first independent long-term experimental data regarding damp heat as well as the longest term (>9 month) testing of MLPE units reported in literature for thermal cycling. Additionally, this work is the first to show in situ power measurements as well as periodic efficiency measurements over length of experimental tests, demonstrating whether certain tests result in long-term degradation or immediate catastrophic failures. The result of this testing demonstrates the long-term durability and reliability of MLPE units to several accelerated environmental stressors.