Luminescence Analysis of PV-Module Soiling in Germany

Doll B, Forberich K, Hepp J, Langner S, Buerhop-Lutz C, Hauch J, Brabec C, Peters IM (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2021.3123076

Abstract

Energy losses of photovoltaic (PV) plants because of soiling are a problem in all regions, including Germany. Soft soiling, caused by a uniform dust film, is shading a PV module and is reducing yield depending on the thickness of the debris layer. Hard soiling, caused by agglomerations of dust or dirt, only covers parts of a PV module, and it causes local shading. A spot check of modules from different PV power plants in Germany revealed a power reduction because of soft- and hard soiling of up to 6%. Determination of soiling type and amount is a prerequisite for decisions about cleaning and for optimizing yield. In this article, we show that luminescence imaging can be used to detect and characterize soiling and quantify losses. For this purpose, we compare luminescence images before and after cleaning and we show that soiling becomes detectable and power losses quantifiable from difference images. We also show that the impact of hard soiling can be quantified from a single photoluminescence (PL) image. This technique may enable a fully automated quantification of power losses because of hard soiling in PV- modules and strings in the future.

Authors with CRIS profile

Bernd Doll Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Johannes Hepp Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Stefan Langner Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Jens Hauch Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET) Christoph Brabec Institute Materials for Electronics and Energy Technology (i-MEET)

Related research project(s)

Laboranalyse von Degradationsmechanismen unter beschleunigter Alterung und Entwicklung geeigneter feldtauglicher bildgebender Detektionsverfahren und Entwicklung und Evaluation eines Algorithmus zur Fehlerdetektion und Prognostizierung der Ausfallwahrscheinlichkeit (iPV4.0) Laboranalyse von Degradationsmechanismen unter beschleunigter Alterung und Entwicklung geeigneter feldtauglicher bildgebender Detektionsverfahren und Entwicklung und Evaluation eines Algorithmus zur Fehlerdetektion und Prognostizierung der Ausfallwahrscheinlichkeit (iPV4.0) Aug. 1, 2018 - July 31, 2021

Involved external institutions

Forschungszentrum Jülich / Research Centre Jülich (FZJ) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Doll, B., Forberich, K., Hepp, J., Langner, S., Buerhop-Lutz, C., Hauch, J.,... Peters, I.M. (2021). Luminescence Analysis of PV-Module Soiling in Germany. IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JPHOTOV.2021.3123076

MLA:

Doll, Bernd, et al. "Luminescence Analysis of PV-Module Soiling in Germany." IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics (2021).

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