Overcoming Low-Light and Ultraviolet Degradation in Photovoltaic Systems: Forecasting, Materials Engineering, and Protective Strategies

With the surge in industrial adoption of efficient photovoltaic technology architectures such as Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact and Silicon Heterojunction technology, various reliability issues have emerged regarding environmental stresses. In this paper, we have carried out a comprehensive analysis of Ultraviolet-Induced Degradation and PolarizationType Potential-Induced Degradation phenomena, particularly focusing on material science aspects of passivation layers and encapsulant materials. In addition, we have explored the atomicscale phenomena of hydrogen diffusion and Norrish-Type photooxidative reaction kinetics of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate-based photovoltaic cells and chemical synthesis of ZnO and TiO2based nanocomposite layers through sol-gel chemistry routes. Moreover, we have studied the spectral response of cadmium telluride and crystalline silicon-based photovoltaics in agrivoltaics applications. From the experimental results, it was concluded that by increasing the AlOx film thickness to 7 nm and using 0.5% ZnO nanocomposites, power loss can be effectively prevented, and device integrity can be sustained for 25 years of operational time. From techno-economic analysis, it was concluded that material degradation can increase the Levelized Cost of Energy by 103% and therefore becomes a critical factor from a financial perspective