IEC TS 62804-1-1:2020

IEC TS 62804-1-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2020-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Photovoltaic (PV) modules – Test methods for the detection of potential-induced
degradation –
Part 1-1: Crystalline silicon – Delamination
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IEC TS 62804-1-1 ®
Edition 1.0 2020-01
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATION
colour
inside
Photovoltaic (PV) modules – Test methods for the detection of potential-induced

degradation –
Part 1-1: Crystalline silicon – Delamination

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 27.160 ISBN 978-2-8322-7693-8

– 2 – IEC TS 62804-1-1:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 Samples . 8
5 Test procedures . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Initial visual inspection . 9
5.3 Wet leakage current test . 9
5.4 Damp heat test . 9
5.5 Voltage stress test . 9
5.5.1 General . 9
5.5.2 Apparatus . 10
5.5.3 Voltage stress test procedure . 10
5.5.4 Severities . 11
5.6 Wet leakage current test . 12
5.7 Final visual inspection . 12
6 Test report . 13
Annex A (informative)  Examples of delamination . 14
Bibliography . 16

Figure 1 – Test flow . 9
Figure 2 – Example test time-temperature-humidity-voltage profile for application of
stress in an environmental chamber . 11
Figure A.1 – Examples of delamination occurring over cell . 14
Figure A.2 – Examples of delamination occurring over bus ribbon . 15
Figure A.3 – Examples of precipitation between the glass and the encapsulant . 15

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULES – TEST METHODS FOR THE DETECTION
OF POTENTIAL-INDUCED DEGRADATION –

Part 1-1: Crystalline silicon – Delamination

FOREWORD
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IEC TS 62804-1-1, which is a Technical Specification, has been prepared by IEC technical
committee 82: Solar photovoltaic energy systems.

– 4 – IEC TS 62804-1-1:2020 © IEC 2020
The text of this Technical Specification is based on the following documents:
Draft TS Report on voting
82/1566/DTS 82/1596A/RVDTS
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
A list of all parts in the IEC 62804 series, published under the general title Photovoltaic (PV)
modules – Test methods for the detection of potential-induced degradation, can be found on
the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to
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• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
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INTRODUCTION
Potential-induced degradation (PID) refers to any PV module degradation that is caused by the
stress of an electric potential between the active cell circuit and the external surfaces or parts
of the PV module. This part of IEC 62804 is for testing and evaluating the durability of crystalline
silicon PV modules for PID in the mode of delamination (PID-d), as may be induced by the
stress factors of moisture and system voltage.
The applied stresses, with system voltage being the principal factor in IEC 62804-series
documents, manifest themselves in different degradation modes that depend in part on the
module technology. Therefore, a series of technical specifications is being developed to define
PID tests for different PV module technologies and differing PID modes.
IEC TS 62804-1 defines test methods for evaluating power loss by PID in crystalline silicon PV
modules.
IEC TS 62804-1-1 defines a test method for evaluating delamination by PID in crystalline silicon
PV modules.
IEC TS 62804-2 defines test methods for evaluating power loss by PID in thin-film PV modules
and modules with moisture-sensitive components and moisture-barrier packaging.
Additional TSs in the series may be introduced in the future for emerging module technologies,
mechanisms, or evaluation methods.
Delamination of PV modules is a failure mode that can lead to electrical shocks, ground faults,
rapid moisture ingress or collection of condensed moisture and can be associated with
corrosion, some loss in photocurrent and hotspots due to degraded transmission of light to the
solar cells, and visual undesirability. Various delamination modes are seen occurring in fielded
modules for which standardized methods for accelerated testing do not exist to predict these
vulnerabilities.
Delamination in crystalline silicon PV modules has been found to occur associated with
electrochemical reactions on the silicon PV cell surface and metallization (Mon and Ross, 1985,
Matsuda et al. 2012). Moisture has been found to sometimes accelerate the adhesion loss at
interfaces in PV modules, along with elevated sodium concentration on the cell surface within
the module package, which may result from the electric field of system voltage stress (Dhere et
al., 2002, Bosco et al., 2017, Wohlgemuth et al., 2017, Li et al., 2018)
...