Attenuation of hotspot phenomenon in PV systems

ABSTRACT

PV waste management is a looming problem and a growing concern for environmental engineers and energy policymakers, as the early PV installations are approaching their end-of-life. Hence, improvement of PV reliability and prevention of early failures has now become more important than ever. Notably, the formation of hotspots in PV cells under partial shading and other mismatch conditions remains a dominant cause of early failures in PV modules. In this study, we undertake an experimental investigation to assess the effectiveness of the extant bypass mechanism in preventing hotspot formation in PV modules. The findings reveal several limitations associated with the conventional bypass approach. Although the bypass diode partially fulfills its intended purpose within a string array configuration, its effectiveness is entirely compromised when connected in the configuration of real-world installations, such as in a series-parallel (SP) array. The hotspot temperature in the SP array increased up to 70.7°C under partial shading conditions at the operating point (i.e., at MPP), whereas no hotspot was created (below 46.1°C) in a string array, except in the single-cell shading scenario. To make the bypass circuits effective, in the present work, a novel bypass strategy is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Early failure
• PV waste management
• reverse breakdown
• PV reliability
• sustainability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Swatilekha Ghosh

Swatilekha Ghosh is a research scholar at Delhi Technological University and pursuing her Ph.D. in the Environmental Engineering Department. Her research interests include Increasing photovoltaic (PV) system reliability, PV waste reduction, and assessment and elimination of ecotoxicity of PV technologies.

Santosh Kumar Singh

Santosh Kumar Singh has held numerous academic and administrative positions in his illustrious career and is the recipient of a plethora of awards and honors for his exemplary contribution to the field of environmental engineering from various national and international bodies. His research interests include environmental engineering, water pollution control, water resource management, and environmental biotechnology. Presently Prof. Singh is gracing the position of the Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan Technological University.

Vinod Kumar Yadav

Vinod Kumar Yadav received B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Bareilly, India in 2003, M.Tech. degree in power system engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur, India in 2005 and a Ph. D. degree in power system Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, India in 2011. Since 2011, he has been associated with various technical universities and involved in teaching electrical engineering and also held various academic and administrative positions. He is a recipient of various awards and recognitions for his exemplary contribution as a researcher and academician. Currently, he is Professor of Electrical Engineering at Delhi Technological University (previously Delhi College of Engineering), Delhi, India. His research interests include the optimization of renewable energy systems, power system policy and restructuring, distributed generation, and smart grid.