- Title
- Correlation of photovoltaics plant performance metrics
- Creator
- Vumbugwa, Monphias
- Subject
- Photovoltaic cells
- Subject
- Perfomance -- Evaluation
- Subject
- Thin films
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MSc
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45657
- Identifier
- vital:38924
- Description
- The generation of electrical energy using Photovoltaic (PV) technology has increased globally with the decrease in the cost of PV systems and the rise in electrical power demand. In South Africa, the support by the government in implementing the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) has seen a growth in PV system deployment and investment in roof and ground mounted, stand alone and grid connected PV plants. This rapid growth shows that the PV industry is becoming highly competitive as there is a shift to low carbon emissions and it is anticipated to be the most affordable source of electricity. Hence, there is need to develop maintenance and fault diagnosis expertise and capabilities in the PV industry, which can in turn improve the dependability, productiveness and lifespan of PV systems. Solar PV modules directly receive and convert solar irradiance into electricity and may not generate the expected optimum energy due to abnormalities which arise when they are exposed to harsh unfavorable environmental conditions in the field. Thermal Infrared (TIR) imaging is widely used as a fault diagnosis tool in operating PV modules and mostly in large PV power plants. Therefore, there is need to research the interpretation of the observed thermal signatures and the impact that the anomalies have on electrical output of the system so as to improve the PV maintenance systems. This research focuses on identifying performance limiting defects using an Infra-Red (I-R) camera, mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), to understand the effect of thermal signatures on current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of PV module strings. Aerial TIR imaging using a UAV can rapidly identify abnormalities in operational PV modules strings as hotspots. Any deviation of the string I-V curve, from the expected, indicates a problem with one or more PV modules in the string. However, locating the faulty module involves measuring I-V parameters of the individual modules in a string, which is not feasible in large PV power plants. Therefore, there is a need to estimate the power loss associated with the thermal signatures in PV module strings. Visual inspection may help in identifying the exact cause of some hotspots, while other hotspots need special characterization techniques, such as Electroluminescence (EL) and UV Fluorescence (UV-F), which can indicate if a solar cell is cracked or has weak busbars or contact finger connections.
- Format
- 81 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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Collections
NMMU School of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Monphias Vumbugwa.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |