Publications by Luca Gnocchi | EPFL Graph Search

A comprehensive physical model for the sensitivity of silicon heterojunction photovoltaic modules to water ingress

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ)-solar modules-when encapsulated with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)-are known to be extremely sensitive to water ingress. The reason for this is, however, not clear. Here, we explain the root causes of this degradation mechanism ...

Cell Press2024

The effect of storage conditions on the long-term stability of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) copolymer used in glass/glass modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Eleonora Annigoni, Luca Gnocchi, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

We evaluate the effect of storage conditions of uncured encapsulant rolls and the potential consequences on photovoltaic (PV) module performance. We show the impact of residual water trapped inside laminated double glass PV modules after lamination and dur ...

ELSEVIER2023

Potential-induced degradation in bifacial silicon heterojunction solar modules: Insights and mitigation strategies

Christophe Ballif, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Olatz Arriaga Arruti, Luca Gnocchi

Potential-induced degradation (PID) may be a serious concern in photovoltaic (PV) modules and plants, particularly when approaching high system voltages (1500+ V). Here, we investigate PID occurring in bifacial rear-emitter silicon heterojunction (SHJ) sol ...

Wiley2023

Corrosion testing of solar cells: Wear-out degradation behavior

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

Corrosion is one of the main end-of-life degradation and failure modes in photovoltaic (PV) modules. However, it is a gradual process and can take many years to become a major risk factor because of the slow accumulation of water and acetic acid (from enca ...

ELSEVIER2022

The role of Encapsulants in the long-term performance of advanced Crystalline Silicon Glass-Glass PV modules

Luca Gnocchi

The adoption of crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules based on glass-glass (G-G) structures is gaining momentum because of the possibility to manufacture bifacial panels, collecting light from the rear side. Despite not being an optimal material, Ethylene ...

EPFL2022

The Front and Rear Side Contributions to the Potential Induced Degradation of Bifacial Silicon Heterojunction Solar Modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Olatz Arriaga Arruti, Luca Gnocchi, Fabiana Lisco

38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 573-577 Recent studies showed that silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells may be prone to potential induced degradation (PID), when encapsulated with a low volume resistivity ethylene vin ...

WIP2021

Potential Induced Degradation Mechanism in Rear-Emitter Bifacial Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Encapsulated in Different Module Structures

Christophe Ballif, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Olatz Arriaga Arruti, Luca Gnocchi

Recent studies showed that silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells can be prone to potential induced degradation (PID) when encapsulated with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). Here, to gain understanding in the role of EVA, we perform PID test in humid condit ...

IEEE2021

EVA for Glass/Glass Solar PV Modules: Effect of encasulant storage conditions and process parameters

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi

This work investigates t the effectiveness of glass-glass solar PV module structures used in combination with a EVA as an encapsulant material. The use of EVA in glass-glass structures is in principle discouraged, as a bioproduct of its photo-degradation i ...

IEEE2021

Encapsulant Selection for PID Resistant Modules Made with Heterojunction Solar Cells

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi

Recent studies showed that SHJ solar cells can be prone to PID when encapsulated with a low volume resistivity encapsulant, such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). These studies also demonstrated that their degradation mechanism is different from Al-BSF modu ...

EU PVSEC Proceedings2020

Optimized Module Packaging for Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells and Increased PID Resistance

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Fabiana Lisco

Recent studies showed that silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells can be prone to potential induced degradation (PID) when encapsulated with a low volume resistivity ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). We perform PID test in humid conditions (85°C/85% RH) on g ...

EU PVSEC Proceedings2020