Development of a string level fault detection system for solar tracking applications

Monitoring systems with high precision and high reliability are of great importance in the interest of harnessing solar power with ever increasing power outputs and efficiencies. These monitoring systems can effectively be used to detect faults at the string level, that is to say, before the strings are combined and fed into the inverter. At the Virginia Institute of Photovoltaics (VIPv), we have developed a new method for string level monitoring and fault detection for photovoltaic tracking systems. The design, fabrication and testing results are presented.