Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants
Aerial infrared (IR) thermography has been implemented in recent years, proving to be a powerful and versatile technique for performing maintenance at photovoltaic (PV) plants. Its application speed and reliability using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones make it extremely interesting at larg...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6331 |
| _version_ | 1827655577453461504 |
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| author | Germán Álvarez-Tey Carmen García-López |
| author_facet | Germán Álvarez-Tey Carmen García-López |
| author_sort | Germán Álvarez-Tey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aerial infrared (IR) thermography has been implemented in recent years, proving to be a powerful and versatile technique for performing maintenance at photovoltaic (PV) plants. Its application speed and reliability using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones make it extremely interesting at large PV plants, due to the associated savings in time and costs. Ground-level thermographic inspection is slower and more costly to apply, although it does provide higher optical resolution, due to being conducted closer to the PV modules being inspected. Both techniques used in combination can improve the diagnosis. An IR thermography inspection strategy is proposed for PV plants based on two stages. The first stage of the inspection is aerial, enabling thermal faults to be detected and located quickly and reliably. The second stage of the inspection is done on the ground and applied only to the most relevant incidents revealed in the first stage. This inspection strategy was applied to a 100 kW PV plant, with an improved diagnosis verified via this procedure, as the ground-level inspection detects one-off thermal incidents from objects creating shade and from solar reflections. For PV modules with open circuits or open substrings, the use of one technique or another is immaterial. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:09:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a574c04e344f47f09e2c3d348eb69537 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:09:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a574c04e344f47f09e2c3d348eb695372023-11-23T19:34:52ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-06-011213633110.3390/app12136331Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic PlantsGermán Álvarez-Tey0Carmen García-López1Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad de Cádiz, Avenida de la Universidad de Cádiz, 10, 11519 Puerto Real, Cádiz, SpainDepartamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Universidad de Cádiz, Avenida de la Universidad de Cádiz, 10, 11519 Puerto Real, Cádiz, SpainAerial infrared (IR) thermography has been implemented in recent years, proving to be a powerful and versatile technique for performing maintenance at photovoltaic (PV) plants. Its application speed and reliability using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones make it extremely interesting at large PV plants, due to the associated savings in time and costs. Ground-level thermographic inspection is slower and more costly to apply, although it does provide higher optical resolution, due to being conducted closer to the PV modules being inspected. Both techniques used in combination can improve the diagnosis. An IR thermography inspection strategy is proposed for PV plants based on two stages. The first stage of the inspection is aerial, enabling thermal faults to be detected and located quickly and reliably. The second stage of the inspection is done on the ground and applied only to the most relevant incidents revealed in the first stage. This inspection strategy was applied to a 100 kW PV plant, with an improved diagnosis verified via this procedure, as the ground-level inspection detects one-off thermal incidents from objects creating shade and from solar reflections. For PV modules with open circuits or open substrings, the use of one technique or another is immaterial.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6331infrared thermographyaerial thermographyPV system maintenance |
| spellingShingle | Germán Álvarez-Tey Carmen García-López Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants Applied Sciences infrared thermography aerial thermography PV system maintenance |
| title | Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants |
| title_full | Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants |
| title_fullStr | Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants |
| title_short | Strategy Based on Two Stages for IR Thermographic Inspections of Photovoltaic Plants |
| title_sort | strategy based on two stages for ir thermographic inspections of photovoltaic plants |
| topic | infrared thermography aerial thermography PV system maintenance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/13/6331 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT germanalvareztey strategybasedontwostagesforirthermographicinspectionsofphotovoltaicplants AT carmengarcialopez strategybasedontwostagesforirthermographicinspectionsofphotovoltaicplants |