Abstract

• The impact of acid rain on the potential induced degradation (PID) and subsequent recovery of mini-solar modules was investigated over varying durations. The acid rain with a pH of 4 was prepared and immersed mini-solar modules (12.5 cm x 7.2 cm) in it for 2, 4, and 5 days. The initial degradation of the mini-solar modules was assessed through photocurrent measurements under different lighting conditions. Following this, we subjected the modules to a recovery process, annealing them for 30 minutes at 50°C, and reevaluated their performance through photocurrent measurements. Additionally, the surface characteristics of these modules were explored using electroluminescence images during different daytime settings. This entire procedure was repeated for double degradation and recovery. Our experimental findings suggest that a simple low-temperature method can effectively restore degraded mini-solar modules to their original state.