JUNE 8-13, 2014 • DENVER, COLORADO
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TECHNICAL AREA OVERVIEWS
AREA 12 OVERVIEW
RELIABILITY OF PV
Chair: Sarah Kurtz, National
Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA
Co-Chairs:
Wei Zhou, Trina Solar, China
Ralph Gottschalg, Centre for
Renewable Energy Systems
Technology (CREST), Loughborough
University, United Kingdom
Area 12 Description
As the PV industry has grown, it has become increasingly
critical to have confidence in the long-term reliability and
performance of the GWs of PV, representing billions of dollars
or euros investment. This topic cuts across all technologies
and throughout the supply chain. Topics especially critical
to the success of the PV industry include: an up-to-date
understanding of what is being observed for deployed
products, the physics behind observed degradation/failure
modes, and the quantitative correlation between accelerated
test results and outcomes seen in the field as a function of
site climate and installation method in order to move toward
statistical service life predictions.
Area 12 presents papers on detailed scientific research
studies and visionary papers addressing a full range of topics
including: Field Experiences, Correlation of Accelerated
Testing and Field Performance, Manufacturing Quality
Assurance, PV Safety Issues, Cell Level Reliability Issues
and Reliability Techniques for Application to PV.
Sub-Area Chairs
Charlie Hasselbrink (SunPower, USA), Michael Kempe
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA), Bengt Jaeckel
(Underwriters Laboratories, USA), Masaaki Yamamichi (AIST,
Japan), Jürgen Arp (Abastrial, Germany), Kent Whitfield
(MEMC, USA), Chris Flueckiger (UL, USA), Allan Ward
(First Solar, USA), Vivek Gade (Jabil, USA), Carole Graas
(Colorado School of Mines, USA), Glenn Alers, (University of
California, Santa Cruz, USA)
