Quantitative assessment of the power loss of silicon PV modules by IR thermography and its dependence on data‐filtering criteria. (6th August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Teubner, Janine; Buerhop, Claudia; Pickel, Tobias; Hauch, Jens; Camus, Christian; Brabec, Christoph J.
• Is Part Of: Progress in photovoltaics. Volume 27:Number 10(2019)
• Page Start: 856
• Page End: 868
• Publication Date: 2019-08-06
• Subjects: empirical power correlation -- infrared measurement -- PV -- silicon modules -- UAV; Solar cells -- Periodicals; Photovoltaic cells -- Periodicals; Solar power plants -- Periodicals; 621.31245
• DOI: 10.1002/pip.3175
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1062-7995

Abstract

Abstract: Reliability and quality control of photovoltaic (PV) plants increases in importance as the relevance of PV for the worldwide renewable energy production grows. In this study, a new method is presented which allows for a quantitative assessment of silicon PV module performance solely by relying on the cell temperatures measured via thermography (IR). A module temperature and power key figure are formulated and found to correlate very well with a linear relationship. The dependence of the deduced correlation's precision on measurement conditions is calculated and discussed. It facilitates decision‐making because optimal measurement conditions usually occur only very rarely, such that a compromise between data quality and measurement frequency has to be found. The power loss correlation presented in this paper may be used as part of a maintenance routine in order to ensure the best possible long‐term performance of the PV plant over its lifetime. The practical application in the field is outlined and explained. Abstract : Using measurement data of high and verifiable quality with a high temporal resolution and coverage, a module temperature and power key figure are formulated and correlated. With appropriate data filtering, they are found to correlate very well with a linear relationship. A correction of the correlation is applied in the last step.