Guidance on PV Module Replacement

Throughout a PV system lifetime, it is often necessary to replace modules that are damaged, underperforming, or deemed unsafe to operate. Little industry guidance is available on how to repower PV plants to optimize performance. An EPRI study addressed considerations for replacing modules within an array, including module selection based on power rating and physical constraints, preferred distribution of replacement modules to maximize performance, boundary conditions to prevent bypass diode activation, and impacts of module mismatch on array performance.