Investigating the Impact of Cell Cracks on Power Loss and Its Correlation with the Modelling Parameters

Assessing the reliability of photovoltaic (PV) cells—the fundamental units of any solar installation—is essential for ensuring optimal system performance. Cell cracking in PV modules is an inevitable outcome of lifecycle mechanical and thermal stresses, yet its implications for performance and safety continue to complicate module valuation. This study proposes a rigorous framework to quantify the relationships among crack extent, power loss, and equivalent‐circuit parameters. Paired electroluminescence (EL) images and I–V curves were acquired on PERC modules with varying busbar (BB) counts under solar-simulator conditions. EL images were processed to detect busbars and to measure aggregate crack length, while I–V data collected across multiple irradiance levels were fitted using single-diode models to extract key parameters. A statistical correlation analysis was then performed to link crack metrics with the extracted parameters and measured power loss. For large crack lengths, crack extent shows a weak negative correlation with shunt resistance and a slight positive correlation with series resistance; power loss is weakly inversely related to shunt resistance and increases modestly with crack length under the same conditions. The proposed framework delivers a quantitative basis for evaluating cracked modules and informing performance and safety judgments.