Publications by Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

Correlating long-term performance and aging behaviour of building integrated PV modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Ebrar Özkalay

Because building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules are fully integrated into a building envelope, the back of the module can be exposed to little or no ventilation, resulting in increased operating temperatures. As the temperature increases, the perfo ...

Elsevier Science Sa2024

Development of Pid-resistant Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

In this abstract, we focus on reinforcing silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells against degradation mechanisms induced by moisture and high-negative voltages. In order to verify that, the solar cells are encapsulated in a glass/backsheet (G/BS) module s ...

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers2024

Intrinsic performance loss rate: Decoupling reversible and irreversible losses for an improved assessment of photovoltaic system performance

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Hugo James André Quest

Solar electricity is set to play a pivotal role in future energy systems. In view of a market that may soon reach the terawatt (TW) scale, a careful assessment of the performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems becomes critical. Research on PV fault detection ...

Wiley2024

The effect of partial shading on the reliability of photovoltaic modules in the built-environment

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Ebrar Özkalay

Residential photovoltaic systems often experience partial shading from chimneys, trees or other structures, which can induce hot-spots in the modules. If the temperature and frequency of these hot-spots are high, the module's reliability and safety may be ...

Edp Sciences S A2024

A comprehensive physical model for the sensitivity of silicon heterojunction photovoltaic modules to water ingress

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ)-solar modules-when encapsulated with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)-are known to be extremely sensitive to water ingress. The reason for this is, however, not clear. Here, we explain the root causes of this degradation mechanism ...

Cell Press2024

The carbon intensity of integrated photovoltaics

Christophe Ballif, Nicolas Würsch, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Alejandro Borja Block

To assess the meaningfulness of installing solar photovoltaics in buildings and infrastructures, we consider a carbon intensity (CI) balance perspective and assess whether installing PV at different orientations acts as a net CO2 sink or source, when compa ...

2023

Stability of black interconnect coatings for solar photovoltaic module applications

Christophe Ballif, Antonin Faes, Martin Ledinsky, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Alejandro Borja Block

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are dual purpose, providing both energy and building functions. Aesthetics play a crucial role in the BIPV market, with increasing demand for uniformly colored modules for building skins. Achieving this requires hid ...

2023

Long-term performance and reliability of silicon heterojunction solar modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

The high-efficiency silicon heterojunction (SHJ) technology is now perceived mature enough to enter the Giga-Watt manufacturing scale with several players around the globe. The growth of the SHJ technology requires confidence from manufacturers, investors, ...

2023

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

Potential-induced degradation in bifacial silicon heterojunction solar modules: Insights and mitigation strategies

Christophe Ballif, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

Potential-induced degradation (PID) may be a serious concern in photovoltaic (PV) modules and plants, particularly when approaching high system voltages (1500+ V). Here, we investigate PID occurring in bifacial rear-emitter silicon heterojunction (SHJ) sol ...

Wiley2023

Accurate color characterization of solar photovoltaic modules for building integration

Christophe Ballif, Antonin Faes, Jordi Escarre Palou, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Alejandro Borja Block

Accurate and reproducible color characterization is essential for colored building integrated photovoltaic products, both for manufacturing quality control and assessing long-term color stability. However, existing characterization techniques struggle to a ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

A 3D indicator for guiding AI applications in the energy sector

Christophe Ballif, Christian Rod, Nicolas Würsch, Laure-Emmanuelle Perret Aebi, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Hugo James André Quest, Marine Dominique Cauz, Fabian Heymann

The utilisation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in the energy sector is gaining momentum, with increasingly intensive search for suitable, high-quality and trustworthy solutions that displayed promising results in research. The growing interes ...

2022

Operating Temperatures and Diurnal Temperature Variations of Modules Installed in Open-Rack and Typical BIPV Configurations

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

Because of building skin integration with restricted or reduced rear-side ventilation, elevated operating temperatures are expected in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) modules and systems, which may impact their long performance and reliability. Th ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2022

Corrosion testing of solar cells: Wear-out degradation behavior

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

Corrosion is one of the main end-of-life degradation and failure modes in photovoltaic (PV) modules. However, it is a gradual process and can take many years to become a major risk factor because of the slow accumulation of water and acetic acid (from enca ...

ELSEVIER2022

The Front and Rear Side Contributions to the Potential Induced Degradation of Bifacial Silicon Heterojunction Solar Modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti, Fabiana Lisco

38th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 573-577 Recent studies showed that silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells may be prone to potential induced degradation (PID), when encapsulated with a low volume resistivity ethylene vin ...

WIP2021

Long-Term Performance and Shade Detection in Building Integrated Photovoltaic Systems

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) operate in a unique environment compared with field-mounted systems and may experience elevated temperatures and recurrent or persistent shading. These stresses are expected to accelerate degradation, but there are ...

WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH2021

Potential Induced Degradation Mechanism in Rear-Emitter Bifacial Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Encapsulated in Different Module Structures

Christophe Ballif, Quentin Thomas Jeangros, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Luca Gnocchi, Olatz Arriaga Arruti

Recent studies showed that silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells can be prone to potential induced degradation (PID) when encapsulated with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). Here, to gain understanding in the role of EVA, we perform PID test in humid condit ...

IEEE2021

A "combi-encapsulant" for enhanced performance of glass-free lightweight crystalline silicon solar PV modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Fabiana Lisco

Lightweight crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules with a weight of 5kg/m(2), by substituting the typical front glass with a thin polymer sheet and the standard back sheet by a composite sandwich structure are presented here. With this work, we propose the ...

IEEE2021

Monitoring the Operating Temperatures of Modules in Open-Rack and Typical BIPV Configurations

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Ebrar Özkalay, Andrew Wayne Fairbrother

Elevated operating temperatures are expected in BIPV systems due to restricted or reduced rear-side ventilation, which impacts their performance and reliability. This work reports operating temperatures and diurnal (day-night) temperature variations of the ...

IEEE2021

Innovative Renewable Technology Integration for Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings within the Re-COGNITION Project

Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani

With the 2010/31/EU directive, all new buildings shall be nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) from 2020 onward, with the aim of strongly reducing the energy consumption related to the building sector. To achieve this goal, it is not sufficient to focus on ...

MDPI2021