Detectable faults on recently installed solar modules in Western Australia

Djordjević, Siniša; Parlevliet, David; Jennings, P.J.

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2013.11.036

Cited by 98 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Non-uniform aging is a common problem in PVs which can be caused by lasting dust, shading, or water corrosion over a long period of time [13] [14]. Usually, there are many reasons to cause aging differences.…”

Section: Mathematical Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(13) where i diode is the bypass current flowing through the diode. The PV cells can work in Range 2 if there exists an integer k<m satisfying the conditions:…”

Section: Model Of Non-uniformly Aged Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to increase the PV device's effective service time, fault diagnosis and remedial measures are two important approaches. Since PV panels often operate in outdoor harsh environments, potential hazards from dust, bird-dropping, partial shading and cell aging will affect the power generation performance [13]- [15]. Therefore, detection techniques such as thermal cameras [16]- [21], earth-capacitance measurement (ECM) [22], time-domain reflectomery (TDR) [23], and voltage/current sensors are widely applied to identify the irregularity of PV cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Efficiency Improvement of Nonuniformly Aged PV Arrays

Zhang

et al. 2017

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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Abstract-The utilization of solar energy by photovoltaic (PV) systems have received much research and development (R&D) attention across the globe. In the past decades, a large number of PV array have been installed. Since the installed PV arrays often operate in harsh environments, non-uniform aging can occur and impact adversely on the performance of PV systems, especially in the middle and late periods of their service life. Due to the high cost of replacing aged PV modules by new modules, it is appealing to improve energy efficiency of aged PV systems. For this purpose, this paper presents a PV module reconfiguration strategy to achieve the maximum power generation from non-uniformly aged PV arrays without significant investment. The proposed reconfiguration strategy is based on the cell-unit structure of PV modules, the operating voltage limit of gird-connected converter, and the resulted bucket-effect of the maximum short circuit current. The objectives are to analyze all the potential reorganization options of the PV modules, find the maximum power point and express it in a proposition. This proposition is further developed into a novel implementable algorithm to calculate the maximum power generation and the corresponding reconfiguration of the PV modules. The immediate benefits from this reconfiguration are the increased total power output and maximum power point voltage information for global maximum power point tracking (MPPT). A PV array simulation model is used to illustrate the proposed method under three different cases. Furthermore, an experimental rig is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed method will open an effective approach for condition-based maintenance of emerging aging PV arrays. Index Terms-Maximum power tracking, non-uniform aging,Manuscript received May 13, 2015; revised October 11, 2015 and January 31, 2016; accepted August 24, 2015. Copyright © 2010 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to use this material for any other purposes must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a request to pubs-permissions@ieee.org.Y I. INTRODUCTIONSolar energy utilization has received much attention across the globe over the last decades [1]- [6]. Currently, photovoltaic (PV) power devices are gaining in popularity in the global renewable energy market, primarily owing to the reducing manufacture costs of PV panels and continuous improvement in power conversion technologies [7]- [8]. In practice, high energy conversion efficiency and long effective service time can help reducing capital and operating costs and thus are highly desired.With the improvement of materials technologies, monocrystalline silicon and multicrystalline silicon now can be economically produced in large quantities. However, their energy conversion efficiency from solar to electricity is still low. Typical efficiency for monocrystalline silicon solar cells is around 20% while it is 18% for multicrystalline silicon solar cells [9]. On the power electronics side, hig...

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Section: Mathematical Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(13) where i diode is the bypass current flowing through the diode. The PV cells can work in Range 2 if there exists an integer k<m satisfying the conditions:…”

Section: Model Of Non-uniformly Aged Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Efficiency Improvement of Nonuniformly Aged PV Arrays

Zhang

et al. 2017

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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“…The hot spot phenomena can lead to the irreversible damage of the cell and an important reduction of module power performances. The in-depth analysis of the most common defects of PV modules was carried out in [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency analysis of PV power plants shaded by MV overhead lines

Dolara

Lazaroiu

Ogliari

2016

Int J Energy Environ Eng

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This paper deals with the occurrence of hot spot phenomena in photovoltaic (PV) systems under partial shading caused by objects on some parts of the modules. An interesting case of diffuse shadows is determined by overhead distribution lines whose path crosses or are in the proximity of the PV power plants. Investigating the impact of these shadows on reducing the power production of PV or on damaging the PV modules as the modules' temperature is increasing, is of high interest. At the SolarTech laboratory of Politecnico di Milano, the conditions for hot spot phenomena occurrence due to the overhead lines shading the PV cells were reproduced. Two experimental campaigns were carried out to investigate the currentvoltage and power-voltage characteristics, and the energy production. In each experimental campaign, the built shading structure was considered fixed and different shading conditions were created based on the natural displacement of the sun. The hot spot phenomena was revealed on a field PV installation in Italy, caused my medium voltage overhead lines shading the PV cells, using infrared imagery.

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“…Some permanent faults can be seen if the damage is severe while other permanent faults are invisible to the naked eye so that they may propagate and cause the PV modules to deteriorate over time. PV faults can occur in the PV array and generate different effects on the performance and lifetime of the PV system [11]- [16]. Currently, thermal cameras [17]- [23], earth capacitance measurements (ECM) [24] and time domain reflectomery (TDR) [25] are the three popular methods for PV fault diagnosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%