6 Decades Research on Photovoltaic Technologies and Characterization in Republic of Serbia

Abstract

It is known that solar photovoltaic devices age well, but the research in the durability and derating factor, important for their economy and energy rate of return, has not been done for the more than 35 year old devices. First silicon photovoltaic cells were produced in 1960’s in Republic of Serbia (former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) with 8% efficiency is still functional. These results were comparable to the state of the art efficiencies of that time. With new laboratory equipment available from recent, these cells produced in Republic of Serbia will be therefore characterized again to test if they satisfy the expected performance threshold from the existing literature. The effects of degradation will be explored and presented. The results of modern characterization of elder photovoltaic cells will be of significance for the further research on this topic in future.