Analysis of the behaviour of cadmium telluride and crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules deployed outdoor under humid continental climate conditions.

Highlights • The behaviour of CdTe PV modules deployed outdoor under Prague climate is analysed. • Degradation rate and stabilization period are estimated for CdTe and c-Si PV modules. • A new approach based on ANN is developed for the prediction of missing weather data. • Low degradation rate values obtained for c-Si PV modules confirm their stability. • The degradation of CdTe PV modules is proven through an indoor characterization. Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) modules are the main element responsible for the harvesting of solar radiation in PV systems. Thus, their reliability and durability are two crucial factors to take in consideration for conceiving performant PV systems and improve the energy generation. The outdoor comportment analysis of different PV module technologies has gained an increased interest in last years in order to gain insight on the degradation of their performance. The present work studies the behaviour of three different PV modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe), monocrystalline (c-Si) and multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) technologies deployed outdoor in a humid continental climate. The period under scrutiny ranges from August 2015 to September 2017. Moreover, a new approach based on artificial neural network (ANN) was developed for the prediction of missing weather data. The obtained results showed that c-Si and mc-Si PV modules presented a slight performance degradation following the seasonal changes. The worst degradation rate of −5.55%/year was obtained for CdTe PV modules. Finally, the effects of the degradation on the I-V curve were proven by an indoor characterization of CdTe PV modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]