IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v252y2025ics0960148125010092.html

Modeling moisture ingress in PV modules with different encapsulant and backsheet materials

Author

Listed:
  • Blom, Youri
  • Jimenez Pelarda, Daniel
  • Minett, Tabitha
  • Kaaya, Ismail
  • Kyranaki, Nikoleta
  • Santbergen, Rudi
  • Isabella, Olindo
  • Vogt, Malte Ruben

Abstract

Increasing the operating lifetime of photovoltaic (PV) modules is a key factor in further reducing their levelized cost of electricity. Analytical degradation models typically use the external relative humidity (RH) as a stress factor, rather than the moisture concentration inside the module. This study presents a Finite Element Method (FEM) model, built in COMSOL Multiphysics, to simulate the moisture ingress inside a PV module. We explore the effects of different encapsulant and backsheet materials, as well as various climatic conditions, on moisture penetration. Overall, the impact of the climate has a larger impact on the moisture ingress than the choice of material, implying that the PV module design should be adjusted for different climates. As FEM simulations are computationally intensive, we also present an analytical model, based on empirically determined characteristics, to simulate the moisture ingress. This reconstruction can be done with a deviation lower than 0.05 for all conditions. Finally, our findings indicate that the relative moisture content (RMC) within the module serves as a more accurate stress factor than outdoor RH. Degradation rates over time found in literature are captured more accurately when deploying RMC.

Suggested Citation

  • Blom, Youri & Jimenez Pelarda, Daniel & Minett, Tabitha & Kaaya, Ismail & Kyranaki, Nikoleta & Santbergen, Rudi & Isabella, Olindo & Vogt, Malte Ruben, 2025. "Modeling moisture ingress in PV modules with different encapsulant and backsheet materials," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:252:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125010092
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125010092
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.123347?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdulwahab A. Q. Hasan & Ammar Ahmed Alkahtani & Seyed Ahmad Shahahmadi & Mohammad Nur E. Alam & Mohammad Aminul Islam & Nowshad Amin, 2021. "Delamination-and Electromigration-Related Failures in Solar Panels—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Aghaei, M. & Fairbrother, A. & Gok, A. & Ahmad, S. & Kazim, S. & Lobato, K. & Oreski, G. & Reinders, A. & Schmitz, J. & Theelen, M. & Yilmaz, P. & Kettle, J., 2022. "Review of degradation and failure phenomena in photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Gonçalves, Juliana E. & van Hooff, Twan & Saelens, Dirk, 2021. "Simulating building integrated photovoltaic facades: Comparison to experimental data and evaluation of modelling complexity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meena, Roopmati & Pareek, Arti & Gupta, Rajesh, 2024. "A comprehensive Review on interfacial delamination in photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    2. Tuhibur Rahman & Ahmed Al Mansur & Molla Shahadat Hossain Lipu & Md. Siddikur Rahman & Ratil H. Ashique & Mohamad Abou Houran & Rajvikram Madurai Elavarasan & Eklas Hossain, 2023. "Investigation of Degradation of Solar Photovoltaics: A Review of Aging Factors, Impacts, and Future Directions toward Sustainable Energy Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-30, April.
    3. Yan, Kai & Xu, Guijun & Lv, Shuai & Zou, Jiansheng & Dong, Zhiwei & Chen, Xiankui & Wang, Le & Qing, Anyong, 2025. "Causes of moisture-induced corrosion around N-TOPCon photovoltaic modules and pre-study of high-reliability packaging solutions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    4. Thomas Bröthaler & Marcus Rennhofer & Daniel Brandl & Thomas Mach & Andreas Heinz & Gusztáv Újvári & Helga C. Lichtenegger & Harald Rennhofer, 2021. "Performance Analysis of a Facade-Integrated Photovoltaic Powered Cooling System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Cao, Ye & Feng, Guohui & Li, Chenqi & Gao, Hexuan, 2025. "Experimental and numerical study on thermal and electrical performance of non-transparent photovoltaic curtain wall," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    6. Sánchez-Pozo, Nadia N. & Vanem, Erik & Bloomfield, Hannah & Aizpurua, Jose I., 2025. "A probabilistic risk assessment framework for the impact assessment of extreme events on renewable power plant components," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    7. Gonçalves, Juliana E. & Montazeri, Hamid & van Hooff, Twan & Saelens, Dirk, 2021. "Performance of building integrated photovoltaic facades: Impact of exterior convective heat transfer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    8. Abdulla, Hind & Sleptchenko, Andrei & Nayfeh, Ammar, 2024. "Photovoltaic systems operation and maintenance: A review and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    9. Murugesan, Palpandian & David, Prince Winston & Murugesan, Pravin & Thangaraj, Hariharasudhan, 2025. "A novel reconfiguration technique for solar PV based microgrid system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    10. Negash, Teklebrhan & Solomon, A.A. & Ottermo, Fredric & Möllerström, Erik & István, Farkas & István, Seres, 2026. "System design issues of high renewable energy system, the case of Eritrea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 209(PA).
    11. Li, Hao & Zhang, Ji & Liu, Xiaohua & Zhang, Tao, 2022. "Comparative investigation of energy-saving potential and technical economy of rooftop radiative cooling and photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    12. Tian, B. & Loonen, R.C.G.M. & Bognár, Á. & Hensen, J.L.M., 2022. "Impacts of surface model generation approaches on raytracing-based solar potential estimation in urban areas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 804-824.
    13. Huang, Xin & Wang, He & Jiang, Xuefang & Yang, Hong, 2023. "Performance degradation and reliability evaluation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules without and with considering measurement reproducibility: A case study in desert area," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    14. Hooshyar, Pooya & Moghadasi, Hesam & Moosavi, Seyed Ali & Moosavi, Ali & Borujerdi, Ali Nouri, 2025. "Recent progress of soiling impact on solar panels and its mitigation strategies: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 379(C).
    15. Kargaran, Mahyar, 2025. "Advanced nanofluid-assisted OHP–TEG integration for next-generation photovoltaic thermal management," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    16. Al- Joboory, Hassan Naji Salman & Abbas, Abdulrahman K. & Salman, Abbas Najim & Radhi Alzubaidi, Muayad Hasan, 2025. "Statistical analysis and investigation of the performance degradation of a grid- connected rooftop solar PV system under non- standard operation style and unstable grid conditions of Baghdad- Iraq," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    17. Bezaatpour, Javad & Gholizadeh, Towhid & Bezaatpour, Mojtaba & Ebadollahi, Mohammad & Ghaebi, Hadi, 2025. "Strategic mitigation of temperature-induced efficiency losses in large-scale photovoltaic facades," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    18. Adam Fennessy & Vasile Onea & James Walshe & John Doran & Marius Purcar & George Amarandei, 2025. "Suitability of Existing Photovoltaic Degradation Models for Agrivoltaic Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-31, April.
    19. Aguilar Celis, Alexis & Sun, Hongjian & Groves, Christopher & Harsh, Pratik & Zhang, Zongtai, 2025. "Material-specific photovoltaic systems integrated in smart grid using graph neural networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 402(PA).
    20. Wu, Zhenghong & Zhang, Ling & Su, Xiaosong & Wu, Jing & Liu, Zhongbing, 2022. "Experimental and numerical analysis of naturally ventilated PV-DSF in a humid subtropical climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 633-646.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:252:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125010092. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.