Novel utility-scale photovoltaic plant electroluminescence maintenance technique by means of bidirectional power inverter controller

Ballestín-Fuertes, Javier ; Muñoz-Cruzado-Alba, J. ; Sanz-Osorio, José F. (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Hernández-Callejo, L. ; Alonso-Gómez, V. ; Morales-Aragones, J.I. ; Gallardo-Saavedra, S. ; Martínez-Sacristan, O. ; Moretón-Fernández, A.

Resumen: Nowadays, photovoltaic (PV) silicon plants dominate the growth in renewable energies generation. Utility-scale photovoltaic plants (USPVPs) have increased exponentially in size and power in the last decade and, therefore, it is crucial to develop optimum maintenance techniques. One of the most promising maintenance techniques is the study of electroluminescence (EL) images as a complement of infrared thermography (IRT) analysis. However, its high cost has prevented its use regularly up to date. This paper proposes a maintenance methodology to perform on-site EL inspections as efficiently as possible. First, current USPVP characteristics and the requirements to apply EL on them are studied. Next, an increase over the automation level by means of adding automatic elements in the current PV plant design is studied. The new elements and their configuration are explained, and a control strategy for applying this technique on large photovoltaic plants is developed. With the aim of getting on-site EL images on a real plant, a PV inverter has been developed to validate the proposed methodology on a small-scale solar plant. Both the electrical parameters measured during the tests and the images taken have been analysed. Finally, the implementation cost of the solution has been calculated and optimised. The results conclude the technical viability to perform on-site EL inspections on PV plants without the need to measure and analyse the panel defects out of the PV installation.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/app10093084

Año: 2020

Publicado en: Applied Sciences (Switzerland) 10, 9 (2020), 3084 [22 pp.]
ISSN: 2076-3417

Factor impacto JCR: 2.679 (2020)

Categ. JCR: ENGINEERING, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 38 / 90 = 0.422 (2020) - Q2 - T2
Categ. JCR: PHYSICS, APPLIED rank: 73 / 160 = 0.456 (2020) - Q2 - T2
Categ. JCR: MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 201 / 333 = 0.604 (2020) - Q3 - T2
Categ. JCR: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY rank: 101 / 178 = 0.567 (2020) - Q3 - T2

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.435 - Engineering (miscellaneous) (Q2) - Computer Science Applications (Q2) - Process Chemistry and Technology (Q2) - Instrumentation (Q2) - Materials Science (miscellaneous) (Q2) - Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes (Q2)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MCIU-CDTI/CER-20191002 RED CERVERA
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/RTC-2017-6712-3

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Ingeniería Eléctrica (Dpto. Ingeniería Eléctrica)