Condition Assessment of Solar Modules by Flash Test and Electroluminescence Test

Abstract

The Hungarian society and the Hungarian state are constantly increasing their solar capacity. More and more solar power plants are being put into operation. The largest of these has a 100 MW peak capacity. Such power plants do not require constant maintenance. However, in the case of low productivity, a conditional assessment is required. The reason for production loss can also be manufacturing, installation, and operational errors. A flying drone was used for finding failures by thermographic scouting. Furthermore, electroluminescent (EL) and flash tests give a comprehensive view of the real state of the modules in a mobile laboratory. We had the opportunity to summarize these test results of more than a thousand modules operating in a solar power plant. The report on the power plant shows that a significant part of the modules became unusable in a short time. After four years, 10% of the 260 Wp modules suffered a performance reduction of more than 10%.

Exploration of Solar Panel Damage and Service Life Reduction Using Condition Assessment, Dust Accumulation, and Material Testing

“…In less than five years since its handover, it has been continuously observed that the performance of solar panels is greatly reduced. Based on the results of the electrical measurements, it was found that a solar panel numbering in the order of hundreds failed [2]. Defective solar panels have been detected using flying drone [4] and replaced after that.…”

“…Some contaminants have thermal-insulation properties; hence, the heat generated on the contaminated cells cannot be transferred to the environment. The temperature of shaded, contaminated cells can be up to 40-50 • C higher than that of clean cells, which can cause fire accidents [1,2]. This research examined the concentration at which each pollutant can cause a temperature rise and the extent to which the lifespan of permanently polluted panels decreases.…”

“…This research examined the concentration at which each pollutant can cause a temperature rise and the extent to which the lifespan of permanently polluted panels decreases. Our previous studies were performed under laboratory conditions [2]. The reduction in service life caused by permanent pollution was investigated using material testing and analysis of solar cells and pollutants from a functioning solar power plant.…”

Condition Assessment of Medium Voltage Assets: A Review

“…Therefore, emphasis is placed on the analysis of recent literature reviews [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. In addition, the literature is complemented with standards [69][70][71], selected papers [72][73][74][75][76], and reports [77].…”

“…Other investigations use infrared thermography to detect hot spots in PV systems [56,62,64,69]. Moreover, flash, electroluminescence, and X-ray tests are employed to find defects in PV arrays [59,60,72]. It is worth noting that the I-V characteristic can be analyzed indirectly using thermography, flash, electroluminescence, and X-ray because there is a relation between hot spots and defects found with those tests and the voltage and current performance of the PV system.…”