The Effect of Interconnecting Ribbons in External Resistance of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules

Abstract The interconnecting ribbons in commercial crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic (PV) modules significantly contribute to the external resistance of the modules. This external resistance plays a major role in resistive losses in the modules and thus measures should be taken in minimization of such resistances. A wider ribbon cause blockage for the incoming light in the solar cells. In addition, the selection of wrong ribbon configuration essentially leads to breakage in fingers which further enhances resistive losses in the modules. In this paper, an analytical approach using a resistive network model has been proposed which effectively describes the effect of ribbon dimension on the blockage area as well as external resistance of the modules. The model has been useful to understand the resistive effect in the PV modules in a quantitative manner. The results show that the number of busbars and the width of the busbars in a solar cell play a significant role in choosing the right ribbon configuration. The proposed approach is useful to understand the optimum ribbon configuration in newly manufactured c-Si PV modules.