Study of temperature dependence of the performance in a-Si solar cells and its application to PV modules in tegrated with roofing materials

The photovoltaic module integrated with roofing materials is a promising candidate for cost reduction in PV systems and we have developed roof panel modules integrated with a insulating material for energy conservation in house. It is difficult to cool these modules compared with conventional modules. The increase in temperature of the modules which consist of crystal silicon solar cells usually affects its performance under sunlight. However, the photodegradated performance in a-Si solar cells can be recovered by thermal annealing effect with increasing modules temperature under sunlight. Therefore, the PV modules integrated with roofing materials is suitable for a-Si solar cells. This paper reports the dependence of the cell performance on the temperature by analyzing the data obtained in the field test. Furthermore, we describe the integrated modules using a-Si solar cells.