Use of the TurboSiP© software to predict the long-term reliability of solder joints on photovoltaic systems

The TurboSiP© software predicts the thermal mechanical fatigue (TMF) of commonly used solder joints. The input parameters are package materials, interconnection design, solder alloy (Sn-Pb or Pb-free), and the environment. This computational tool was used to predict the TMF lifetime of (a) collector circuit solder joints used in photovoltaic solar panel systems as well as (b) 1206 chip capacitor and (c) 14 I/O SOIC package solder joints on the printed circuit boards of the inverter module. All interconnections were analyzed as having the eutectic Sn-Pb solder. A service temperature cycle was defined from data logger parameters. Accelerated aging test conditions were also evaluated in the software. The TurboSiP© predicted lifetimes for the collector circuit as well as convention component solder joints that were more-than-adequate to meet the customer's requirements.