Abstract
During their operational life, photovoltaic (PV) modules may exhibit various defects for poor sorting of electrical performance during manufacturing, mishandling during transportation and installation, and severe thermo-mechanical stresses. Electroluminescence testing and infrared thermographic imaging are the most common tests for checking these defects, but they are only economically viable for large PV plants. The defects are also manifested as abnormal electrical properties of the affected PV modules. For defect diagnosis, the appropriate parameters on their I-V curves are open circuit voltage, photo-generated current, series resistance, and the shunt resistance. The health of PV modules can be assessed by calculating these values and comparing them with the reference parameters. If these defects are diagnosed in time, the power loss is avoided and safety hazards are mitigated. This paper first presents a review of common defects in PV modules and then a review of the methods used to find the above-mentioned parameters during the normal PV operation. A simple approach to determine the resistances of the equivalent circuit is discussed. Finally, through a modification in an ordinary maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, information about the state of health of PV modules is obtained. This method is effective, especially if applied to submodule-integrated MPPT architectures.
Highlights
Over the last few years, concerns about climate change, global warming, and gas emissions have pushed the policy makers toward the increase of renewable power generation, with a consequent rapid cost decline
The main objective of the review is to study the effects of these defects on the parameters of the equivalent of the PV modules, like the open circuit voltage, short circuit current, series resistance, and shunt resistance
The alternative to the aforementioned diagnostic tests is to determine the parameters of the equivalent circuit during the on-site operation of PV generators
Summary
Over the last few years, concerns about climate change, global warming, and gas emissions have pushed the policy makers toward the increase of renewable power generation, with a consequent rapid cost decline. This is reflected in growing investments in electricity generation from wind and solar power systems, such as photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) systems [1,2]. Midlife failures occur when the PVs remain operational in the field for many years and are subject to severe thermo-mechanical stresses. The online detection and diagnosis of PV module’s faults has become a technical and economic challenge [9]
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