Quantitative analysis of electroluminescence and infrared thermal images for aged monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Berardone, Irene; Garcia, Juan Lòpez; Paggi, Marco

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2017.8366338

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Operation in the fourth quadrant in dark conditions is applied to perform electroluminescence imaging of the PV module [ 29 ]. In this case, the module is forward biased with a power supply, to achieve a current similar to the Isc of the module.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it has been traditionally applied only with the PV plant in operation, which has the great advantage of not losing energy, it can also be applied while injecting current to the modules in the fourth quadrant, simultaneously or subsequent to EL inspections. Some authors term these two kinds of thermographic inspections as outdoor (illuminated) and indoor (dark) conditions, respectively [ 10 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. However, novel research in PV systems propose the use of a power inverter with bidirectional power flow capability for utility-scale PV plants maintenance, using the EL technique, together with the flexibility provided by this type of devices [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infrared Thermography for the Detection and Characterization of Photovoltaic Defects: Comparison between Illumination and Dark Conditions

Gallardo-Saavedra

Hernández-Callejo

Alonso-García

et al. 2020

Sensors

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Newly installed renewable power capacity has been increasing incredibly in recent years. For example, in 2018, 181 GW were installed worldwide. In this scenario, in which photovoltaic (PV) energy plays a leading role, it is essential for main players involved in PV plants to be able to identify the failure modes in PV modules in order to reduce investment risk, to focus their maintenance efforts on preventing those failures and to improve longevity and performance of PV plants. Among the different systems for defects detection, conventional infrared thermography (IRT) is the fastest and least expensive technique. It can be applied in illumination and in dark conditions, both indoor and outdoor. These two methods can provide complementary results for the same kind of defects, which is analyzed and characterized in this research. Novel investigation in PV systems propose the use of a power inverter with bidirectional power flow capability for PV plants maintenance, which extremely facilitates the electroluminescence (EL) inspections, as well as the outdoor IRT in the fourth quadrant.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrared Thermography for the Detection and Characterization of Photovoltaic Defects: Comparison between Illumination and Dark Conditions

Gallardo-Saavedra

Hernández-Callejo

Alonso-García

et al. 2020

Sensors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is a non-destructive measurement technique, which provides fast, real-time and two-dimensional distributions of characteristic features from PV modules [17][18][19]. In addition, IRT can be performed in illuminated or dark conditions [16,[20][21][22].…”

Section: Irt Versus El Inspectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the EL test, modules operate under forwarding bias like a LED, and therefore have to be power supplied. The excitation current can be less than or equal to I sc [21]. It has been observed from visual inspection of EL and IR images in the fourth quadrant that most of the defects detected in the dark IRT images under the forwarding bias condition can also be identified in the EL images, whereas not all the defects detected in the EL images can be detected with dark-IRT, as some broken cells or soldering defects over one or more buses [29].…”

Section: Irt Versus El Inspectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Plant Electroluminescence Maintenance Technique by Means of Bidirectional Power Inverter Controller

et al. 2020

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Nowadays, photovoltaic (PV) silicon plants dominate the growth in renewable energies generation. Utility-scale photovoltaic plants (USPVPs) have increased exponentially in size and power in the last decade and, therefore, it is crucial to develop optimum maintenance techniques. One of the most promising maintenance techniques is the study of electroluminescence (EL) images as a complement of infrared thermography (IRT) analysis. However, its high cost has prevented its use regularly up to date. This paper proposes a maintenance methodology to perform on-site EL inspections as efficiently as possible. First, current USPVP characteristics and the requirements to apply EL on them are studied. Next, an increase over the automation level by means of adding automatic elements in the current PV plant design is studied. The new elements and their configuration are explained, and a control strategy for applying this technique on large photovoltaic plants is developed. With the aim of getting on-site EL images on a real plant, a PV inverter has been developed to validate the proposed methodology on a small-scale solar plant. Both the electrical parameters measured during the tests and the images taken have been analysed. Finally, the implementation cost of the solution has been calculated and optimised. The results conclude the technical viability to perform on-site EL inspections on PV plants without the need to measure and analyse the panel defects out of the PV installation.

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“…In the EL test, modules operate under forward bias like a light emitting diode (LED), and therefore have to be power supplied. Excitation current can be lower or equal to Isc [97]. Therefore, dark-IRT can be performed simultaneously to EL test, while injecting current to the modules.…”

Section: Detection Of Pv Defectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection, classification and characterization of defects in photovoltaic modules through the use of thermography, electroluminescence, I-V curves and visual analysis

Gallardo-Saavedra¹

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Quantitative analysis of electroluminescence and infrared thermal images for aged monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Infrared Thermography for the Detection and Characterization of Photovoltaic Defects: Comparison between Illumination and Dark Conditions

Infrared Thermography for the Detection and Characterization of Photovoltaic Defects: Comparison between Illumination and Dark Conditions

Novel Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Plant Electroluminescence Maintenance Technique by Means of Bidirectional Power Inverter Controller

Detection, classification and characterization of defects in photovoltaic modules through the use of thermography, electroluminescence, I-V curves and visual analysis

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