Outdoor monitoring and high voltage bias testing of PV modules as necessary test for assuring long term reliability

Abstract

At present the failure modes and mechanism of PV modules are not well understood. The current accelerated tests cannot duplicate the various field failures. It is very important to continue to carry out accelerated testing of PV modules in order to reduce the infant mortality of new technology PV modules as well as to improve the production techniques of the PV modules. However, the accelerate tests need to be complemented with actual field deployment of PV modules and specifically designed tests in real world conditions or preferably in harsh climates. In this work the inclusion of outdoor monitoring of PV modules and high voltage bias testing of PV modules in real world climatic conditions in the current best practices for PV module reliability testing is being proposed. One of the objectives of this paper is to show the importance of carrying out continuous monitoring of field deployed PV modules as well as high voltage bias testing of PV modules over an extended period of time.