Monitoring of Photovoltaic System Performance Using Outdoor Suns-V_OC

Photovoltaics (PVs) have rapidly grown due to advancements in efficiency and cost. PV is projected to increase to 48% of all renewable generation by 2050, making it the fastest growing source of energy generation. More emphasis has been placed on reliability, as a path to reducing LCOE by improving degradation rates and system lifespans. We capitalize on Suns-V_OC, which is widely used for laboratory measurements of single solar cells, and discuss the barriers in extending the technique to outdoor systems of all sizes. The resulting data can provide a thorough analysis of impeding faults and degradation. Because Suns-V_OC is rather simple to implement on fielded systems, it can be a valuable tool for collecting the data needed to better understand how degradation mechanisms and climates impact different PV architectures. This work provides a scalable pathway to provide the industry with the information needed to achieve PV lifespans of beyond 50 years.