AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Thin Film Wednesday Sessions
       Session TF-WeM

Paper TF-WeM13
Procedure for Performance Monitoring of Thin-Film Photovoltaic Modules

Wednesday, November 15, 2006, 12:00 pm, Room 2022

Session: Thin Films for Photovoltaics and Energy Applications
Presenter: N.G. Dhere, Florida Solar Energy Center
Authors: N.G. Dhere, Florida Solar Energy Center
A. Kaul, Florida Solar Energy Center
B. Kumar, Florida Solar Energy Center
S. Khatri, Florida Solar Energy Center
Correspondent: Click to Email
Thin film PV modules from all five leading US PV manufacturers are being tested at Florida solar energy center. Grid-connected photovoltaic systems are usually subjected to harsh environmental conditions and high voltage bias. Hence a study is undertaken for understanding key reliability issues and exploring avenues for improving manufacturing technology. Array output voltage, current, and back-of-module temperatures along with meteorological parameters namely; solar irradiance, UV, relative humidity, ambient temperature, wind speed, etc, are being monitored continuously. Error analysis of statistical data and PV system performance monitoring to Performance Test Conditions (PTC) is carried out using regression. Current-Voltage Characteristics (I-V) of the module arrays taken on quarterly basis, serve as a supplement to the continuous data monitoring. I-V measurements provide characteristic data of PV arrays, such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current, peak power, fill factor etc. The PTC power calculated for each month supported by quarterly I-V measurements are used to assess the degradation rate, if any, for each module array over a period of several months. This paper presents procedure of data acquisition and analysis for verification of possible degradation of thin-film PV modules.