Degradation analysis of 5-year field exposed photovoltaic modules using low-cost thermography, electroluminescence and I-V curve tests in Ecuador

Detection of degradation of photovoltaic (PV) modules is important for the maintenance and operation of solar PV farms to reduce production losses. Infrarred (IR) Thermography, Electroluminescence (EL) and I-V curve tracers are detection techniques that generally use high-cost equipment, which limits their use in developing countries due to the tight budgets they manage for research and development. This study shows the use of low-cost alternatives to determine the deterioration of 140 solar PV modules at the University of Cuenca-Ecuador. This array has functioned continually without fail for 5 years. Measurement equipment for degradation detection techniques with a cost of less than 1,000.00USD is used and its application is validated with professional equipment. A power loss of 1.29% per year is obtained. In addition, the use of degradation values obtained from similar studies is proposed to reduce the effort of detecting deterioration modes, whose approximation allows the calculation of the power delivered by the installation with a 2.04% error. A method for the economic quantification due to the losses caused by the deterioration of solar PV modules is also exposed.