Publications by Eleonora Annigoni

The effect of storage conditions on the long-term stability of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) copolymer used in glass/glass modules

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

We evaluate the effect of storage conditions of uncured encapsulant rolls and the potential consequences on photovoltaic (PV) module performance. We show the impact of residual water trapped inside laminated double glass PV modules after lamination and dur ...

ELSEVIER2023

Quantifying and modeling the impact of interconnection failures on the electrical performance of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Christophe Ballif, Fanny Sculati-Meillaud, Antonin Faes, Jacques Levrat, Matthieu Despeisse, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

Failures in the metallic interconnections are among the main degradation modes for photovoltaic modules. Fatigue accumulation due to thermomechanical stresses can result in deterioration of the solder joints or in broken ribbons. In this paper, we first qu ...

2019

One-type-fits-all-systems: Strategies for preventing potential-induced degradation in crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic modules

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

In this work, we investigate the relationship between potential-induced degradation (PID) and the bill of material used in module manufacturing. We manufacture samples with different combination of materials, using two types of solar cells (conventional vs ...

WILEY2019

35 years of photovoltaics: Analysis of the TISO-10-kW solar plant, lessons learnt in safety and performance-Part 2

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

The TISO-10-kW plant, installed in Lugano (Switzerland) in 1982, is the first grid-connected PV plant in Europe. In a joint publication (part 1), we presented the results of the electrical characterization performed in 2017-after 35 years of operation-of t ...

WILEY2019

35 years of photovoltaics: Analysis of the TISO-10-kW solar plant, lessons learnt in safety and performance-Part 1

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

The TISO-10-kW solar plant, connected to the grid in 1982, is the oldest installation of this kind in Europe. Its history is well documented, and the full set of modules has been tested indoors at regular intervals over the years. After 35 years of operati ...

WILEY2019

Quantifying and Modeling the Impact of Interconnection Failures on the Electrical Performance of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules

Christophe Ballif, Antonin Faes, Jacques Levrat, Matthieu Despeisse, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

We present an electrical model developed with LT SPICE that simulates the performance of a string of cells with disconnections in the electrical circuit. In a previous contribution, we quantified experimentally how the module performance is affected when o ...

IEEE2018

In-situ Determination of Moisture Diffusion Properties of PV Module Encapsulants Using Digital Humidity Sensors

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Marko Jankovec

We conducted a long-term (>6500 h) in-situ PV module humidity monitoring experiment, where digital humidity sensors encapsulated in different encapsulants (EVA, TPO, POE and ionomer) were exposed to different humidity conditions in a climatic chamber. From ...

IEEE2018

Reliability of photovoltaic modules : from indoor testing to long-term performance prediction

Eleonora Annigoni

A fundamental challenge with solar energy is improving the reliability, and increasing the lifetime, of photovoltaic modules. Typically, photovoltaic module manufacturers guarantee 80% of the nominal power of their modules for 25 years, but this type of gu ...

EPFL2018

Modeling Potential-Induced Degradation (PID) of Field-Exposed Crystalline Silicon Solar PV Modules: Focus on a Regeneration Term

Christophe Ballif, Fanny Sculati-Meillaud, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

IEEE2017

Promoting a Sustainable Diffusion of Solar PV Electricity in Africa: Results of the CODEV Project

Christophe Ballif, Eleonora Annigoni, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

In this work we present the result of a collaboration between the Polytechnic Schools of Dakar (ESP) and Lausanne (EPFL) on the testing and monitoring of solar photovoltaic modules. The collaboration has involved the exchange of knowledge, methodologies an ...

2017

Modeling potential-induced degradation (PID) in crystalline silicon solar cells: from acceleratea-aging laboratory testing to outdoor prediction

Christophe Ballif, Fanny Sculati-Meillaud, Federico Paolo Galliano, Hengyu Li, Laure-Emmanuelle Perret Aebi, Eleonora Annigoni, Marko Jankovec, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

We present a mathematical model to predict the effect of potential-induced degradation (PID) on the power output of c-Si modules in different climates. For the experimental part, we manufacture mini-modules made of two c-Si p-type cells, and use accelerate ...

2016

In-Situ Monitoring of Moisture Ingress in PV Modules Using Digital Humidity Sensors

Christophe Ballif, Fanny Sculati-Meillaud, Federico Paolo Galliano, Hengyu Li, Laure-Emmanuelle Perret Aebi, Eleonora Annigoni, Marko Jankovec

A new in-situ moisture monitoring technique for photovoltaic (PV) modules is proposed using miniature digital humidity and temperature sensors. The sensors were embedded in three different ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) stacks and proved to be resistant to l ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2016