System-level condition monitoring approach for fault detection in photovoltaic systems

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the system-level condition monitoring approach for fault detection in the photovoltaic (PV) system. It describes the aging and degradation effects of components on the PV system, and presents the effect of the temperature on PV system operation. The PV modules consist of multilayer-structured devices that have solar cells and electronics embedded in transparent polymeric encapsulants. The PV module performance is usually affected by solar irradiation and type of radiation, temperature, moisture, mechanical factors, and electrical operational parameters. The chapter analyzes the impact of broadband irradiance on PV power, describes the capacitor equivalent series resistance impact on PV, and also presents the data acquisition for failure modes in PV and the fault classifier development and monitoring, respectively. The power systems are required for fault detection and operation of the protection equipment in the minimum possible time so that the power system could remain in a stable condition.