The degradation of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules is caused by a number of factors that have an impact on their effectiveness, performance, and lifetime. One of the reasons contributing to the decline in solar PV performance is the aging issue. This study comprehensively examines the effects and difficulties associated with aging and degradation in solar PV applications. In light of this, this article examines and analyzes many aging factors, including temperature, humidity, dust, discoloration, cracks, and delamination. Additionally, the effects of aging factors on solar PV performance, including the lifetime, efficiency, material degradation, overheating, and mismatching, are critically investigated. Furthermore, the main drawbacks, issues, and challenges associated with solar PV aging are addressed to identify any unfulfilled research needs. Finally, this paper provides new directions for future research, best practices, and recommendations to overcome aging issues and achieve the sustainable management and operation of solar energy systems. For PV engineers, manufacturers, and industrialists, this review’s critical analysis, evaluation, and future research directions will be useful in paving the way for conducting additional research and development on aging issues to increase the lifespan and efficiency of solar PV.

Energy generation from renewable sources is a global trend due to the carbon emissions generated by fossil fuels, which cause serious harm to the ecosystem. As per the long-term goals of the ASEAN countries, the Malaysian government established a target of 31% renewable energy generation by 2025 to facilitate ongoing carbon emission reductions. To reach the goal, a large-scale solar auction is one of the most impactful initiatives among the four potential strategies taken by the government. To assist the Malaysian government’s large-scale solar policy as detailed in the national renewable energy roadmap, this article investigated the techno-economic and feasibility aspects of a 10 MW floating solar PV system at UMP Lake. The PVsyst 7.3 software was used to develop and compute energy production and loss estimation. The plant is anticipated to produce 17,960 MWh of energy annually at a levelized cost of energy of USD 0.052/kWh. The facility requires USD 8.94 million in capital costs that would be recovered within a payback period of 9.5 years from the date of operation. The plant is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 11,135.2 tons annually. The proposed facility would ensure optimal usage of UMP Lake and contribute to the Malaysian government’s efforts toward sustainable growth.

Solar PV is gaining increasing importance in the worldwide energy industry. Consequently, the global expansion of crystalline photovoltaic power plants has resulted in a rise in PV waste generation. However, disposing of PV waste is challenging and can pose harmful chemical effects on the environment. Therefore, developing technologies for recycling crystalline silicon solar modules is imperative to improve process efficiency, economics, recovery, and recycling rates. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of PV waste management, specifically focusing on crystalline solar cell recycling. The classification of PV recycling companies based on various components, including solar panels, PV glass, aluminum frames, silicon solar cells, junction boxes, plastic, back sheets, and cables, is explored. Additionally, the survey includes an in-depth literature review concentrating on chemical treatment for crystalline solar cell recycling. Furthermore, this study provides constructive suggestions for PV power plants on how to promote solar cell recycling at the end of their life cycles, thereby reducing their environmental impact. Moreover, the techno-economic and environmental dimensions of solar cell recycling techniques are investigated in detail. Overall, this review offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with crystalline solar cell recycling, emphasizing the importance of economically feasible and environmentally sustainable PV waste management solutions in the constantly evolving solar energy market.

The mismatch in current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) modules causes significant power loss in a large PV array, which is known as mismatch power loss (MML). The PV array output power generation can be improved by minimizing MML using different techniques. This paper investigates the performance of different module arrangement techniques to minimize MML both for long series string (LSS) and long parallel branch (LPB) in series-parallel (SP) array configurations at uniform irradiance condition. To investigate the significance of MML LSS-SP configuration with dimensions: 1 × 40, 2 × 20, 4 × 10, 5 × 8 and LPB-SP configuration with dimensions: 40 × 1, 20 × 2, 10 × 4, 8 × 5 were used. A comparative analysis is made to find the effectiveness of MML reduction techniques on PV arrays with three different power ratings. Simulation results show that the PV modules arrangement obtained by the genetic algorithm (GA) and current based arrangement (Im) performed better than the arrangements obtained by all other techniques in terms of PV array output power and MML minimization. The performance of the proposed technique was analyzed for both LSS-SP and LPB-SP array configurations in 400 W, 3400 W, and 9880 W arrays. To substantiate the simulation results experiment was performed using a 400 W PV array in outdoor weather condition and obtained similar results. It was also observed that the percentage of recoverable energy (%RE) obtained by arranging the modules using the GA method was higher than Im based method for both LSS-SP and LPB-SP array configurations. A maximum %RE of 4.159 % was recorded for a 5 × 8 LSS-SP array configuration by applying the GA based MML reduction method.