Aken, B.B. van; Veldman, D.; Gouwen, R.J.; Bende, E.E.; Eerenstein, W.
Damp-heat testing of PV modules is a time-consuming process, taking months. The electrochemical noise (EcN) set-up is a fast, direct corrosion measurement of solar cells, whereby results can be obtained within one hour. EcN measurements are presented for several solar cell concepts and different environments. It correlates with damp-heat degradation involving corrosion, which is rather common in EVA-encapsulated crystalline Si modules. Furthermore, the EcN test can be done as an evaluation tool when probing alternative brands, formulations or processing for metallisation pastes and as a screening test for new batches of metallisation paste.