An Online Novel Two-Layered Photovoltaic Fault Monitoring Technique Based Upon The Hybrid Parameters
In 2020, Dr. Abbas Fardoun, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Al Maaref University, participated in a journal paper titled "An Online Novel Two-Layered Photovoltaic Fault Monitoring Technique Based Upon the Thermal Signatures".
This study involves a research team that includes Mr. Qamar Navid, Emirates Centre for Energy & Environment Research - United Arab Emirates University, Dr. Ahmed Hassan, Department of Architecture Engineering - College of Engineering at United Arab Emirates University, and Dr. Rashad Ramzan, Department of Electrical Engineering - National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences.
This study is categorized as follows. Section 1 discusses the previously employed techniques from manual observation to most advanced fault monitoring methods, their working principles, and limitations. Section 2 describes the experimental setup methodology along with the required sensors and cameras for sensing through imaging purposes. Section 3 discusses the results of various fault conditions and their validation through thermal image analysis. Section 4 involves the discussion of results achieved through the proposed scheme and its comparison with the currently employed fault monitoring methods. Section 5 presents the overall investigation results and future enhancement in the purposed research work.
Abstract:
The share of photovoltaic (PV) power generation in the energy mix is increasing at a rapid pace with dramatically increasing capacity addition through utility-scale PV power plants globally. As PV plants are forecasted to be a major energy generator in the future, their reliable operation remains of primary concern due to a possibility of faults in a tremendously huge number of PV panels involved in power generation in larger plants. The precise detection of nature and the location of the faults along with a prompt remedial mechanism is deemed crucial for smoother power plant operation. The existing fault diagnostic methodologies based on thermal imaging of the panels as well as electrical parameters through inverter possess certain limitations. The current article deals with a novel fault diagnostic technique based on PV panel electrical parameters and junction temperatures that can precisely locate and categorize the faults. The proposed scheme has been tested on a 1.6 kW photovoltaic system for short circuit, open circuit, grounding, and partial shading faults. The proposed method showed improved accuracy compared to thermal imaging on panel scale fault detection, offering a possibility to adapt to the PV plant scale.
Keywords: photovoltaic system; fault detection; fault diagnostic; short circuit; open circuit; shaded faults; ground faults; thermal signatures.