Shading Effects on the Reliability of Flexible Solar Modules in Arid Environment

Solar modules built on flexible platforms are light, rugged, and can fit any surface. However, these modules are susceptible to many stresses that can inversely affect their reliability. In this work, the effect of design factors on the performance of flexible mono-crystalline solar modules was studied. The considered factors were shading, bending curvature, and the height of the air gap underneath the module. Design-of-experiments tools were used to analyze the data collected during the experiments. The results showed that all considered factors were statistically significant and highly affected the modules’ efficiency. Moreover, shading was the most significant element, and a small shading percentage can greatly deteriorate the performance of the modules.