Photovoltaic system performance monitoring for manufacturing quality assurance

Photovoltaic Reliability Group is being initiated in USA and India to assist owners of small PV systems. FSEC and Pune University have experience in monitoring performance of PV systems and household energy devices. Small PV system owners are being encouraged to participate. The scope is expected to increase because the Indian Government has decided to boost the national solar target to 100 GW by 2022. Student, teacher and engineer volunteers are sought from technical societies such as IEEE, AVS, SPIE, etc. PV parameters such as open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, power, energy yield are measured and monitored remotely. Other parameters related to the state of the connections, switches, wire coatings, stability of mounts as a function of time also need to be monitored over the useful life. Careful analysis of this classified data will allow us to understand the ageing processes in the system. This analysis is expected to provide guidelines to devise accelerated tests for achieving longer life compatible with the warranty.