Silicon https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-019-00282-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Analysis of the Single-Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic (PV) Module Performances Under Low γ - Radiation from Radioactive Source Adama Ouedraogo 1,2 · Ladifata Mogmenga 1 · N´ ebon Bado 1 · Thierry Sikoudouin Maurice Ky 1 · Dieudonn ´ e Joseph Bathiebo 1 Received: 31 January 2019 / Accepted: 24 September 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract The present paper is about an experimental evaluation of the terrestrial silicon single-crystalline solar PV module behavior under low gamma radiation. The simultanous proliferation of radioactive sources in Burkina Faso dominated by gamma type and the photovoltaic (PV) systems installations in both urban and rural areas justify this study. There is also high background radiation compared to normal in some region of the country. It has been shown that the photocurrent and the electric power increase while the photovoltage stays constant for an extremely low gamma radiation doses. This work proves that long time exposition to any low radiation can cause the reduction of the performance of the solar PV module. However for greater values of the dose, the photocurrent, the photovoltage and the electric power decrease. Hence, it is so important to protect PV equipments against gamma radiation by adjusting the PV installation height from the ground where high background radiation is notified or by putting reinforced concrete at their bottom faces. The two ways can be combinated adding the respect to radiation protection principle As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA). Keywords Single-Crystalline silicon · PV solar module · Low gamma (γ ) - radiation · Dose rate · Dose 1 Introduction The increase of electric energy demand leads many devel- oping countries to adopte the energetic mix system. Renew- able energy such as photovoltaic presents a real advantage in this context. The off-grid solar systems would likely be the most suitable and sustainable solution for minimum electrification [1], mainly in rural area of West Africa. In other hand, the proliferation of PV installations in Burk- ina Faso can meet external environmental problems such as high temperature, electric and/or magnetic fields, high dust rate and ionizing radiation. The electric parameters of the  Adama Ouedraogo damissau@hotmail.com 1 Laboratory of Thermal and Renewable Energies (L.E.T.RE), Department of Physics, Unit of Training and Research in Pure and applied Sciences (UFR-SEA), University Ouaga I Prof. Joseph KI-ZERBO, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 2 National Authority for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ARSN), Ministry of Environment of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso silicon PV module had been studied theorically and exper- imentally under temperature variation. The short circuit current increases with the increase of the temperature while the open circuit voltage decreases [2]. The electric field pro- vides a suplementary conduction current [3, 4]. This current for stronger electric field can cause the degradation of the solar PV cell performance. However, low electric field can bring an improvement of the PV cells parameters [3]. The increase of the magnetic field leads to the stockage of the electronic carriers charge in the p-n junction. This stockage of the electronic charge causes the decrease of the exter- nal photocurrent and the increase of the photovoltage [5]. When the magnetic field falls on the PV cell with any orien- tation, it can also influence the output parameters [6]. These behaviors of the solar PV module under magnetic field can be explained by the magnetoresistance effect [5]. In fact, the magnetoresistance is the decrease of the conductivity of the semiconductor by the magnetic field induction. The radio electromagnetic field from Base transceiver station (BTS) and others mobile phone technologies, AM, FM or TV antennas can affect the output parameters of the solar PV. The electromagnetic field causes the apparition of the conduction current. Under stronger electromagnetic field, the solar PV cell shows an outing photocurrent at the open