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Background Statement for SEMI Draft Document 5431
NEW STANDARD: TEST METHODFOR PERFORMANCE CRITERIAOF PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) CELLAND MODULE PACKAGE
Notice: This background statement is not part of the balloted item. It is provided solely to assist the recipient in reaching an informed decision based on the rationale of the activity that preceded the creation of this Document.
Notice: Recipients of this Document are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patented technology or copyrighted items of which they are aware and to provide supporting documentation. In this context, “patented technology” is defined as technology for which a patent has issued or has been applied for. In the latter case, only publicly available information on the contents of the patent application is to be provided.
Background Statement:
Recent failure-rate analysis indicates that a large portion of the accelerated PV cell/module qualification failures are related to the failure of the package itself.Damage and failure during transportation is alwaysthe serious problemscaused PV cell and module failures during 25 years in the field.This standarddevelops performance criteriaof PVcell and modulepackage. The manufactures and buyers, or any other party interested, can thus have common Standards to refer to when desired. This standard expects also to accelerate the development ofPV cell/module protection design during transportation as well.
Review and Adjudication Information
Task Force Review / Committee AdjudicationGroup: / PV Package Performance Task Force / Taiwan PV TC Chapter
Date: / Aug 28, 2014 / Oct 3, 2014
Time & Timezone: / TBD / TBD
Location: / ITRI / ITRI
City, State/Country: / Hsinchu, Taiwan / Hsinchu, Taiwan
Leader(s): / Anderson S. T. Hsu (ITRI)
David K. D. Lee (KDi)
/ B.N. Chuang (ITRI)
J.S Chen (Tera Solar)
Standards Staff: / Andy Tuan, / Andy Tuan,
This meeting’s details are subject to change, and additional review sessions may be scheduled if necessary. Contact the task force leaders or Standards staff for confirmation.
Telephone and web information will be distributed to interested parties as the meeting date approaches. If you will not be able to attend these meetings in person but would like to participate by telephone/web, please contact Standards staff. Check on calendar of event for the latest meeting schedule.
If you need further assistance, or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the PV Package Performance Task Force:
Anderson S. T. Hsu,
SEMI Draft Document 5431
NEW STANDARD: TEST METHODFOR PERFORMANCE CRITERIAOF PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) CELLAND MODULE PACKAGE
1 Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this standard is to standardize requirements of test method for performance criteria of photovoltaic (PV) cell/module package for transportation.
1.2 The photovoltaic industry, with crystalline silicon as a dominant segment, is expanding rapidly to meet growing renewable energy demands all over the world. Recent failure-rate analysis indicates that a large portion of the accelerated PV module qualification failures are related to the failure of the package itself. That is leading to the loss of cell during shipping. Damage of shipping caused PV cell/module fail is always one of the serious problems and is relative 25 years reliability in the field.
1.3 The cell/module makers and buyers, or any other party interested, can thus have common standards to refer to when desired. This standard also assistsand certifies whetherPV cell/module package were good design before shipping.
2 Scope
2.1 The proposed standard aims to develop criteria of PV cell/module package so that industry could benefit from using a common and baseline specification. In order to simulate and considerall of the condition shall includethe handling, process and transportation for some cartons of packaged cells or one unit pallet (see Fig. 1) indoors and outdoors, this test method is based on the following scenario, as appropriate.
2.1.1 Static loading for stacking cartons of cell/module.
2.1.2 Handling and process shipping cartons of cell/module in fab.
2.1.3 Inclined impact cartons by falling fromfork-lift truck or hand- pallet truck.
2.1.4 Loading or unloading cartons with rope.
2.1.5 Improper operation fork-lift truck, then led to cartons of cell/module sliding along the inclined plane.
2.1.6 Transporting pallet cartons of cell/module from fab to fab.
2.1.7 This standard will describe:
2.1.7.1 Test method for basic transport shipment system and functional performance requirements.
2.1.7.2 Test method, measurement instruction and criteria for performance.
2.1.7.3 Performance criteria of cell/module packaging previously not defined in the PV industry.
NOTICE:SEMI Standards and Safety Guidelines do not purport to address all safety issues associated with their use. It is the responsibility of the users of the Documents to establish appropriate safety and health practices, and determine the applicability of regulatory or other limitations prior to use.
Figure1
Handling Unitized Cartons of Cell by Fork-Lift Truck
3 Limitations
3.1 This standardis not intended for specifying the orientation of PV cell/module inside the package, the transportation vehicles, and the packaging materials.
3.2 This standard is recommended only for c-Si product, the general packaging and transportation environmental.
4 Referenced Standards and Documents
4.1 SEMI Standards
SEMI PV23— Test Method for Mechanical Vibration of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic (PV) Modules in Shipping Environment
SEMI PV38— Test Method for Mechanical Vibration of c-Si PV Cells in Shipping Environment
SEMI PV44— Specification for Package Protection Technology for PV Modules
4.2 ASTMStandards[1]
ASTM D880-92 — Standard Test Method for Impact Testing for Shipping Containers and Systems
ASTM D999 — Standard Test Methods for Vibration Testing of Shipping Containers
ASTM D4169 — Standard Practice for Performance Testing of Shipping Containers and Systems
ASTM D4332 — Standard Practice for Conditioning Containers, Packages, or Packaging Components for Testing
ASTM D4728—Standard Test Method for Random Vibration Testing of Shipping Containers
ASTM D6179-97 —Standard Test Methods for Rough Handling of Unitized Loads and Large Shipping Cases and Crates
4.3 ISO Standards[2]
ISO 2233 — Packaging - Complete, Filled Transport Packages and Unit Loads - Conditioning for Testing
ISO 3534 — Statistics - Vocabulary and Symbols
ISO/IEC 17025—General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories
4.4 IECStandards[3]
IEC 60410—Sampling Plans and Procedures for Inspection by Attributes
IEC 61215 — Crystalline Silicon Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules - Design Qualification and Type Approval
IEC 61646 —Thin-film Terrestrial Photovoltaic (PV) Modules - Design Qualification and Type Approval
IEC 60904-1 — Photovoltaic Devices – Part 1: Measurements of Photovoltaic Current-Voltage Characteristics
IEC 60904-9 —Photovoltaic Devices – Part 9: Solar Simulator Performance Requirements
IEC 60068-2-64 — Environmental Testing - Part 2-64: Tests - Test Fh: Vibration, Broadband Random and Guidance
IEC 62759-1 — Transportation Testing of Photovoltaic (PV) Modules - Part 1: Transportation and Shipping of PV Module Stacks
4.5 ISTA Standards[4]
ISTA 2A 2011 —Packaged – Products 150 lb(68kg) or less
ISTA 3E 2009 — Unitized Loads of Same Product
ISTA 3H 2011 — Products or Packaged-Products in Mechanically Handled Bulk Transport Containers
4.6 Other
MIL-STD-810G— Departmentof Defense Test Method Standard: Environmental Engineering Considerationsand Laboratory Tests
NOTICE: Unless otherwise indicated, all documents cited shall be the latest published versions.
5 Terminology
5.1 Abbreviations and Acronyms
5.1.1 c-Si — Crystalline Silicon
5.1.2 EL — Electro-Luminescence
5.1.3 Grms —Root-Mean-Square Acceleration
5.1.4 Isc — Short-Circuit Current
5.1.5 I-V —Current-Voltage
5.1.6 PL— Photo-Luminescence
5.1.7 Pmax — Maximum Power
5.1.8 PV — Photovoltaic
5.1.9 STC—Standard Test Condition
5.1.10 Voc — Open-Circuit Voltage
5.2 Definitions
5.2.1 block— a stacking package ofsample cells
5.2.2 defects —the damage of package or the imperfection of c-si like broken cell, crack or micro-cracks, cell with chips, holes in cells, etc
5.2.3 shipment — a large amount of goods sent together to a place or the act of sending them
5.2.4 STC—Standard Test Conditions for solar cell. Cell temperature: 25 °C, AM 1.5G, Irradiance: 1000 W⋅m–2
5.2.5 test carton — stacked blocks in one carton for testing
5.2.6 test pallet — a complete, filled unit- loads during the test
6 Apparatus
6.1 Reliability Tests
6.1.1 Temperature Recording Apparatus — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D4332, to show and record environment temperature during the treatment of unit load.
6.1.2 Humidity Recording Apparatus — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D4332, to show and record environment humidity during the treatment of unit load.
6.1.3 Chamber and Control Apparatus — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D4332, to provide and control the temperature and humidity of environment during the optional atmospheric conditioning.
6.1.4 Incline Impact Tester — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D880-92(02), to perform incline shock test.
6.1.5 Rotational Edge Drop Test System— In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D6179-97 to perform rotational edge drop test.
6.1.6 Rotational FlatDrop Test System— In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D6179 to perform rotational edge drop test.
6.1.7 Compression Test System (or Weight and Load Spreader) — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D642-00.
6.1.8 Random Vibration Test System — In compliance with the apparatus section of ASTM D4728-01.
6.2 Analytical tools for pre-test and post-test
6.2.1 Defect Inspection Device — A non-destructive device can be used to differentiate cell’s quality. The device shall record defects, such as EL,PL, microscope inspection,etc. (¶9.2)
6.2.2 Solar Simulator —A device that provides illumination approximating natural sunlight and controllable indoor test facility under laboratory conditions, used for the testing of solar cells. It may be one of three classes (A, B, or C) for each of the three categories includes spectral match, spatial non-uniformity and temporal instability and should at least fulfill class BBA requirements, and class AAA is better for long term instability issue. (¶9.1,¶9.3)
6.2.3 I-V — A device used to measure the current and voltage through the device under test and also done by using a voltage sweep with numerous step increases to build the I-V curve which get the electrical characteristics (e.g. Pmax, Isc, Voc) of the cell at STC according to IEC60904-1. (¶9.1, ¶9.3)
6.2.4 EL —Electro-luminescence, a device which is used to checking defects of cell/module. Current is fed into a solar cell (in forward bias) and radiative recombination of carriers causes light emission. This radiation can be sensed using an external detector for example CCD camera. The cell image detected shows defects such as cracks and inactive areas. (¶9.2)
6.2.5 PL —Photoluminescence, a device which is used to checking defects of cell/module. Light emission from a solar cell after the absorption of photons (electromagnetic radiation). It is one of many forms of luminescence (light emission) and is initiated by photo-excitation (excitation by photons). The excitation typically undergoes various relaxation processes and then photons are re-radiated. The invisible photoluminescence radiation emitted by the cell is detected by a highly sensitive camera. The cell image detected shows defects such as cracks and inactive areas. (¶9.2)
7 Preconditioning and Conditioning
7.1 The packaged-product shall be well-packagedand stored prior to climate conditioning at lab ambient temperature and humidity for at least twelvehours, or sufficient time to reach equilibrium of all parts of the package and product is recommended. Carry out these tests in § 8 after preconditioning, and record the temperature and humidity of laboratory ambient when testing starts. Remaining test requirements should be performed as soon as after removing the package-product from environmental conditioning apparatus.
7.2 One test sample (unitized load) is required for pallet test; general package requirements.Refer toFig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.
7.3 Test sample need well-packaged for shippingto test libratoryand re-packagefor the test.
7.4 Test samples, which aremade by same raw materials and process, are required at least and for qualification testing (plus spares as desired) shall be taken at random from a production batch or batches, in accordance with the procedure given in IEC 60410 and ISO 3534. Test samples shall have been manufactured from specified materials and components in accordance with the relevant drawings and process sheets, and shall have been subjected to the manufacturer's normal inspection, quality control and production acceptance procedures.
Figure 2
Cell Case: (a) One Carton with 12Blocks; (b) One Pallet with 24 Cartons
Figure 3
Test Pallet of Shipping Case (a)Cell Case, (b)Module Case
8 Testing Procedures (see Fig. 4)
Figure 4
TestingProcedures
8.1 Pre-test examinationsand requirements
8.1.1 Sample cell/module
8.1.1.1 The pre-test examination consists of a selection of IEC tests and measurements on the sample cell/module according to the items listed in Table 1. If a cell or module fails a test, it should be replaced by a good sample. Recommend all sample cells are in the same efficiency classification. All the samples’ visual inspection, maximum power, sample condition shall be recorded.
8.1.2 Packaged carton
8.1.2.1 Record the outside dimensions of length, width and height (L x W x H) for each test carton and package appearance.
8.2 Reliability tests - In accordance with ISTA 3E/3H and SEMI PV23 /PV38, all tests shall be performed on the pallet case, and start to the end in the sequence indicated in the Table 2.
8.3 Post-test examinations and requirements
8.3.1 Sample cell/module
8.3.1.1 The post-test examination consists of a selection of IEC tests and measurements on the sample cell/module according to the items listed in Table 1. All the samples’ visual inspection, maximum power, cell condition shall be recorded. No defects according to C10.1 in IEC 61215
8.3.2 Power degradation
8.3.2.1 The average power (Pmax) degradation of each test cartons of cell or test module does not exceed 3% after the test.
8.3.3 Breakage rate (Cell only)
8.3.3.1 Breakage rate is defined as the broken cells over to the total cells in each carton, and average breakage rate does not exceed 1% at least.
8.3.4 Packaged carton
8.3.4.1 Visual inspection and record the outside dimensions of length, width and height (L x W x H) for each test carton of cell or test module, and take photos of package appearancefor reference. No serious distortion of appearance, no damage which would influence the protective performance of package materials is required.
Table 1Test Items in the Pre-Test and Post-Test Examinations for Cell/Module
Test / Title / Test ConditionsCell / Module
1 / Visual inspection / Carefully inspect each cell under an illumination of not less than 1,000 lux / IEC 61215-10.1
Visual inspection
2 / Maximum power determination / See IEC 60904-1 / IEC 61215-10.2
Maximum power determination
Table 2Reliability Test Sequence for Pallet Case of Cell/Module
Seq. / Test Category / Test Type / Test Level / Reference1 / Atmospheric preconditioning / Temperature and humidity / Ambient / ASTM D4332
2 / Atmospheric conditioning / Controlled temperature and humidity / Temperature and humidity chosen from chart / ISTA 3E
3 / Shock / Incline impact / 1.1 m/s / ISTA 3E
4 / Shock / Rotational flat drop / 100 mm / ISTA 3H
5 / Shock / Rotational edge drop / 200 mm / ISTA 3E
6 / Compression / Apply and hold – Weight and load spreader / Calculated test load (kg) / ISTA 3E
7 / Vibration / Random / Overall Grms level of 0.52g20-500 Hz for 180 min. / ASTM D4169
SEMI PV23
SEMI PV38
9 Reporting Results
9.1 The test report shall include, at minimum, the following:
9.1.1 A title.
9.1.2 Name and address of the test laboratory and location where the tests were carried out.
9.1.3 Unique identification of the certification or report and of each page.
9.1.4 Name and address of client, where appropriate.
9.1.5 Description and identification of the item tested.
9.1.6 Characterization and condition of the test item.
9.1.7 Date of receipt of test item and date(s) of test, where appropriate.
9.1.8 Identification of test method used.
9.1.9 Reference to sampling procedure, where relevant.
9.1.10 Any deviations from, additions to or exclusions from the test method, and any other information relevant to specific tests, such as environmental conditions.
9.1.11 Measurements, examinations and derived results supported by tables, graphs, sketches and photographs as appropriate including temperature coefficients of short circuit current, open circuit voltage and peak power, power at STC, STC and low irradiance and any failures observed. If the maximum power loss observed after each of the tests has been measured it should also be reported.
9.1.12 A statement of the estimated uncertainty of the test results (where relevant).
9.1.13 A signature and title, or equivalent identification of the person(s) accepting responsibility for the content of the certificate or report, and the date of issue.
9.1.14 Where relevant, a statement to the effect that the results relate only to the items tested.
9.1.15 A statement that the certificate or report shall not be reproduced except in full, without the written approval of the laboratory.
9.1.16 Test data formplease refers to Appendix of SEMI PV23 and SEMI PV38.
10 Related Documents
10.1 K. A. EMERY, "Solar Simulators and I-V Measurement Methods", Solar Cells, 18, 3-4, pp. 251-260 (1986). Solar Energy Research Institute, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO80401 (U.S.A.)
10.2 Matthew P. Peloso, Pooja Chaturvedi, Peter Wurfel, Bram Hoex, Armin G. Aberle, Observations on the spectral characteristics of defect luminescence of silicon wafer solar cell, Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2010 35th IEEE, pp. 2714 - 2717.
10.3 Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering. Edited by A. Luque and S. Hegedus
NOTICE: SEMI makes no warranties or representations as to the suitability of the Standards and Safety Guidelines set forth herein for any particular application. The determination of the suitability of the Standard or Safety Guideline is solely the responsibility of the user. Users are cautioned to refer to manufacturer’s instructions, product labels, product data sheets, and other relevant literature, respecting any materials or equipment mentioned herein. Standards and Safety Guidelines are subject to change without notice.
By publication of this Standard or Safety Guideline, SEMI takes no position respecting the validity of any patent rights or copyrights asserted in connection with any items mentioned in this Standard or Safety Guideline. Users of this Standard or Safety Guideline are expressly advised that determination of any such patent rights or copyrights and the risk of infringement of such rights are entirely their own responsibility.