Hot spot susceptibility and testing of PV modules

Molenbroek, E. C.; Waddington, D.; Emery, Keith

doi:10.1109/pvsc.1991.169273

Cited by 91 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This may be attributed to the adverse effect of dust besides some permanent degradation mentioned previously. Lorenzo et al (2013) found that dust accumulation on a PV module surface can cause hot spot phenomena which rise the temperature of the shaded cell of more than 20 degrees over the other cells in the same PV module, leading to some destructive effects that degrade PV module performance (Molenbroek et al, 1991).…”

Section: Dust Contributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of dust to performance degradation of PV modules in a temperate climate zone

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research investigates the contribution of dust to the long-term performance degradation of various photovoltaic (PV) modules that have been operating for almost eighteen years without any cleaning procedures at the Renewable Energy Outdoor Testing Area (ROTA), Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. A solar module analyser was used to assess the PVs'electrical performance, while a combination of spectrophotometer, scanning electron microscope, electron dispersive spectroscope and X-ray diffraction were used to exam the properties of the dust on the panels. The study found that the degradation of the PV modules' power output, ranged from 19% to 33%. The degradation is mostly due to non-dust related factors such as corrosion, delamination, and discoloration, which account about 71% to 84%, although the contribution of dust is still significant at 16% to 29%. Anova analysis shows that the dust has a fairly uniform impact on the performance degradation of all PV technologies at ROTA. This is in line with the results of spectral transmittance curves for different dust density samples that essentially flat over the wavelength range of the PV modules. An investigation of the properties of dust revealed that dust particles deposited on PV modules' surface at ROTA were dominated by fine particles built of large amounts of quartz (SiO 2 ), followed by calcium oxide (CaO) and some minors of feldspars minerals (KAlSi 3 O 8 ), which are the main factors in transmittance losses that affect PV module performance.

show abstract

Section: Dust Contributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of dust to performance degradation of PV modules in a temperate climate zone

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The cause of the hot spot could be a variety of cell failures, including partial shadowing, cells mismatch or failures in the interconnection between cells (Molenbroek et al, 1991). When a cell is shadowed, it could operate in reverse mode in which the cell consumes energy instead of generating it.…”

Section: Hot Spotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early degradation of silicon PV modules and guaranty conditions

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The fast growth of PV installed capacity in Spain has led to an increase in the demand for analysis of installed PV modules. One of the topics that manufacturers, promoters, and owners of the plants are more interested in is the possible degradation of PV modules. This paper presents some findings of PV plant evaluations carried out during last years. This evaluation usually consists of visual inspections, I-Vcurve field measurements (the whole plant or selected areas), thermal evaluations by IR imaging and, in some cases, measurements of the I-V characteristics and thermal behaviours of selected modules in the plant, chosen by the laboratory. Electroluminescence technique is also used as a method for detecting defects in PV modules. It must be noted that new defects that arise when the module is in operation may appear in modules initially defect-free (called hidden manufacturing defects). Some of these hidden defects that only appear in normal operation are rarely detected in reliability tests (IEC61215 or IEC61646) due to the different operational conditions of the module in the standard tests and in the field (serial-parallel connection of many PV modules, power inverter influence, overvoltage on wires, etc.).

show abstract

“…Previous experiments have shown that differences in the reverse bias characteristic of cells can lead to dissimilar shaded and hot-spot response of cells that have otherwise similar forward characteristics. [13,14,15] Because of this variation in reverse characteristic, some cells are more susceptible to shade than others. In particular, Type A or high shunt resistance cells have a flat reverse bias characteristic [16 ] and as such are particularly susceptible to biasing to high negative voltages with small amounts of shade.…”

Section: Fig 3: Module Voltages Are Shown For a Typical Day One Celmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partially shaded operation of a grid-tied PV system

Deline

2009

2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Partial shading of a PV installation has a disproportionate impact on its power production. This paper presents background and experimental results from a single string grid-tied PV system, operated under a variety of shading conditions. In this configuration a shadow can represent a reduction in power over 30 times its physical size. Results are presented relating size and positions of shading to power reduction of the PV system. A simulation method is also described that provides an accurate description of shade based on a single site survey. This process can provide the basis for an accurate simulation of power reduction in a partially shaded PV system.

show abstract

Hot spot susceptibility and testing of PV modules

Cited by 91 publications

References 2 publications

The contribution of dust to performance degradation of PV modules in a temperate climate zone

The contribution of dust to performance degradation of PV modules in a temperate climate zone

Early degradation of silicon PV modules and guaranty conditions

Partially shaded operation of a grid-tied PV system

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About