InstituteofTechnologyofCambodia

DepartmentofElectricalandEnergyEngineering

Course:RenewableEnergy

Lab#1(Duration2h)
CharacterizationofPVmoduleinnormalandabnormalconditions

I. Objectives
ThisexperimentationwillfocusonthecharacterizationofaPVmoduleinnormalandabnormalconditions.Afterthis
experimentation,studentsshouldbeabletounderstandtheeffectofdifferentkindsoffaultontheoutputofaPV
module.Studentsshouldalsolearn,throughthislab,howtouseIVcurvetracertoobtainthecharacteristicofaPV
module.

II. Background
Duringoperation,aPVmodulemaysubjecttodifferentkindsoffaultandabnormalconditions.Theseinclude:
Shading(fullshadingandpartialshading)
Dirtysoilonthemodule
Disconnectionofbypassdiode
Reverseifbypassdiode
TheseproblemswillhavemoreorlesssignificantimpactonthecharacteristicofPVmodule(shortcircuitcurrent,open
circuitvoltage,MaximumPowerPoint).Thisexperimentationwillexaminetheimpactoftheseproblemsusingthe
commercialIVcurvetracer.

III. Apparatus

TwoPVmodules(onecleanandanotheronesoiled)
One/twoIVcurvetracer(s)
Onemultimeter
Onepieceofthickpaperforproducingshading
OneUSBmemorystickforrecordingtheIVcurvesproducedbytheIVcurvetracer
Onescrewdriverforconnectinganddisconnectingthebypassdiode

IV. Procedure
1. Technicalspecification
ObserveattherearsideofthePVmoduleandwritedownallthetechnicalspecificationsprovidedbythe
manufacturer.

2. Normaloperation
UsetheIVcurvetracertoobtaintheIVcharacteristicofacleanPVmodulefilledwithdirtysoil
SavetheresultingcurveinyourUSBmemorystick.(Pleasedonotforgettoattributeacodetoeachofyour
registeredcurvesinceyouwillneedtomakeacomparisonofcurvelater)

3. Dirtysoil
UsetheIVcurvetracertoobtaintheIVcharacteristicofaPVmodule
Incaseofquickvariationofsolarirradiance,twoIVcurvetracerswillbeneeded.Thefirsttracerisusedwith
thecleanmoduleandthesecondoneisusedwiththefaultymodule.TheprocessforobtainingtheIV
characteristicofthesetwomodulesmustbedoneatthesametime.Thesetwocurveswillbecomparedwith
eachother.
SavetheresultingcurveinyourUSBmemorystick.

4.

Fullshading
Useatransparentplasticsheettocovertheentiremodule
UsetheIVcurvetracertoobtaintheIVcharacteristicofaPVmodule
SavetheresultingcurveinyourUSBmemorystick.

5. Partialshading
Repeattheproceduredescribedinthesection3forthefollowingcases:
a. Partialshadingoveronecell
b. Partialshadingovercells
c. Partialshadingovercellsoftwodifferentgroups
d. Partialshadingovercellsofthreedifferentgroups
e. Partialshadingovercellsoffourdifferentgroups

6. Disconnectionofbypassdiode
Repeattheproceduredescribedinthesection3forthefollowingcases:
a. Onebypassisdisconnectedandnoshading
b. Onebypassdiodeisdisconnectedandonecellisat50%shading
c. Onebypassdiodeisdisconnectedandonecellisat100%shading

7. Reverseofbypassdiode
Repeattheproceduredescribedinthesection6forthecaseofreverseofbypassdiode.

V. Conclusions
Writeseverallinesofconclusionsinyourreport.