PV Module and system fault analysis

In the recent years, there is a noticeable escalation in the number of Photovoltaic module systems installed on the rooftops for the residential and small level commercial purposes. Lower consumer prices, government grants and increase in the awareness of environmental issues are some of the basic causes for this increase. Increase in the renewable energy production is a long term solution to the problems faced due to the fossil fuels energy production methods including the availability and cost of the fossil fuels and environmental pollution. To keep the positive slope of the trend of accepting the Photovoltaic module systems on the residential basis by the common residential people and to encourage more general public to install the Photovoltaic module systems on their rooftops, it is very important to increase the reliability and durability of the Photovoltaic module systems. Photovoltaic module and system fault analysis is an ongoing assignment in order to increase the efficiency, safety,reliability and durability of the PV system. It is an essential requirement for the PV systems to operate continuously while providing the maximum output results. This thesis project explains the causes and results of the noticeable faults occur during the operation of the Photovoltaic module systems. These faults include the visible changes in the appearance of the Photovoltaic modules, reduction in the system performance, faults in the other main components of the Photovoltaic module system i.e. inverters, batteries, junction box, etc. For the purpose of analyzing the faults and its causes in the Photovoltaic module systems, this thesis project investigates and analyzes the survey data collected from the survey conducted by the Australian Photovoltaic Institute (APVI). This survey data provides the information about the faults experienced by the installers and the users of Photovoltaic module systems. Other surveys and reports such as Solar Business in Australia Survey, International Energy Agency Survey are also analyzed and their results have been compared in order to find any relevance of the specific faults to occur. This thesis project moreover investigates the frequency of the faults occurs during the operation of the Photovoltaic module system. Effect of different climate zones and environmental conditions on the operation, reliability and durability of the Photovoltaic module system is also analyzed from the survey’s results, reports and other thesis as a part of literature review for the research for this thesis