PV output power enhancement using two mitigation techniques for hot spots and partially shaded solar cells

Hot spotting is a reliability problem in photovoltaic (PV) panels where a mismatched cell heats up significantly and degrades PV panel output power performance. High PV cell temperature due to hot spotting can damage the cell encapsulate and lead to second breakdown, where both cause permanent damage to the PV panel. Therefore, the design and development of two hot spot mitigation techniques are proposed using a simple, costless and reliable method. The hot spots in the examined PV system was carried out using FLIER i5 thermal imaging camera.

Several experiments have been examined during various environmental conditions, where the PV module I–V curve was evaluated in each observed test to analyze the output power performance before and after the activation of the proposed hot spot mitigation techniques. One PV module affected by hot spot was tested. The output power during high irradiance levels is increased by approximate to 1.25 W after the activation of the first hot spot mitigation technique. However, the second mitigation technique guarantee an increase of the power equals to 3.96 W. Additional test has been examined during partial shading condition. Both proposed techniques ensure a decrease in the shaded PV cell temperature, thus an increase in the output measured power.