Outdoor evaluation of crystalline and amorphous silicon technologies

A study has been undertaken near Hyderabad, in the Southern part of India, to study/evaluate different Photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Four technologies were identified for field evaluation, namely mono-crystalline Silicon, poly-crystalline silicon, EFG (Edge defined film fed growth) silicon and amorphous silicon. PV modules of the above four technologies were obtained from a local manufacturer and subjected to long-term outdoor evaluation in three phases. Phase I involved the measurement of electrical parameters of the individual modules first and later of the PV arrays, configured from the modules of the respective technologies. In Phase II, the DC energy output measurements were done across the characteristic load resistances connected to the PV arrays of the four different technologies. This phase of testing was done during the pre-monsoon and post monsoon periods. The final Phase III test was conducted in conjunction with a suitably designed Data Acquisition System (DAS).