Field performance evaluation of various crystalline silicon photovoltaic technologies in Pingshan, China

The field performance of three different crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) module technologies in Pingshan, China (BSk climate based on the Köppen–Geiger climate classification) is analyzed and compared, including p-type multicrytalline silicon (multi-Si), p-type monocrystalline silicon (mono-Si) and n-type mono-Si modules. Both p-type multi-Si and mono-Si solar cells are of the conventional type with back-surface field, whereas the n-type device is of the heterojunction (HET) type. From January 2017 to December 2018, the n-type HET modules showed the best field performance (in terms of kWh/kWp) with an average daily energy yield of 3.9 kWh/kWp. The p-type multi-Si and mono-Si modules performed similarly with an average daily energy yield of 3.7 kWh/kWp (marginally better for multi-Si modules). On-site measurements also showed that the location has a ‘blue-rich’ and ‘red-rich’ spectrum in the summer and winter, respectively. In general, the spectral effect is positive in the summer, and negative in the winter, for all three investigated c-Si PV technologies. Besides, the spectral effect slightly favors the HET technology in the summer, but the opposite is true for mono-Si and multi-Si devices in the winter. Keywords: Photovoltaics, Crystalline silicon, Field performance, Spectral mismatch, Energy yield