As India continues major deployments of photovoltaics in the country, both on-grid as well as off-grid, the long-term reliability of PV modules becomes very important. It is especially important to understand how PV modules perform in Indian conditions in the field. Accordingly, the NCPRE Module Reliability Group is in the process of undertaking the field assessment of reliability of PV modules in 2016, 2018 and 2020 through major ‘All-India Surveys of PV Module Reliability’, each covering 800-1200 modules of various technologies in different climatic zones of India. The group will also simultaneously survey of performance of large PV Power Plants, together with the power electronics group of NCPRE.

The Module Reliability group is also working on assessing the quality and reliability of various materials used in PV modules, such as EVA, backsheet and glass. Development of new models of degradation of the modules as well as the materials incorporated in them, suitable for accelerated testing pertinent to Indian climates, is also under way, including validation with laboratory as well as field measurements

The group is also working on the development of new characterization techniques suitable for field measurement, and the development of compact and robust instruments (based on the new techniques) for field measurement of modules.

The Module Reliability group is headed by Prof. Narendra Shiradkar.