Evaluation of Dynamic Mechanical Loading as an accelerated test method for ribbon fatigue

Dynamic Mechanical Loading (DML) of photovoltaic modules is explored as a route to quickly fatigue copper interconnect ribbons. Results indicate that most of the interconnect ribbons may be strained through module mechanical loading to a level that will result in failure in a few hundred to thousands of cycles. Considering the speed at which DML may be applied, this translates into a few hours of testing. To evaluate the equivalence of DML to thermal cycling, parallel tests were conducted with thermal cycling.