Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Kempe, M..
Qualification Plus is an accelerated test protocol and quality management system that gives higher confidence in field performance of PV modules compared with conventional qualification testing. The test sequences are being developed as consensus standards, but the early publication of these tests enables the community to begin benefiting from them sooner.
Extrapolation of accelerated testing to the long-term results expected in the field has uncertainty associated with the acceleration factors and the range of possible stresses in the field. When multiple stresses (such as temperature and humidity) can be used to increase the acceleration, the uncertainty may be reduced according to which stress factors are used to accelerate the degradation.
A test method is described that uses the resistivity of a Calcium film to detect very small amounts of water permeating through a barrier material.
Four levels of accelerated test standards for PV modules are described in the context of how the community can most quickly begin using these.
As the photovoltaic industry has grown, the interest in comparative accelerated testing has also grown. Private test labs offer testing services that apply greater stress than the standard qualification tests as tools for differentiating products and for gaining increased confidence in long-term PV investments. While the value of a single international standard for comparative accelerated testing is widely acknowledged, the development of a consensus is difficult. This paper strives to identify a technical basis for a comparative standard.