Thermal imaging looks after solar cell modules’ lifecycle 05 September 2013

Thermal imaging inspection technology is playing an increasingly part in ensuring maximum energy yield from solar panels at manufacturer Solon.

Oliver Frank, R&D team manager at Solon, says it is now involved throughout its solar panels' lifecycle, from design, manufacture and quality assurance, through to installation and ongoing maintenance.

"We design our modules to operate for at least 30 to 40 years," comments Frank.

"We don't manufacture our own solar cells so strict quality controls are a necessity to ensure they live up to the high standards we have set ourselves. And for this our Flir P-Series camera, particularly for shunt detection."

Shunts can reduce the solar cell's conversion efficiency, he explains – and the cause is generally manufacturing defects, rather than poor solar cell design.

Low shunt resistance causes power losses by providing an alternate current path for the light-generated current and the effect is acute at low light levels.

To detect shunts in its solar cells before lamination, Solon engineers apply a reverse bias to a single cell to minimise charge flow, and then use the infrared camera to look at the thermal pattern.

"Hot spots indicate local shunts due to manufacturing flaws in a cell's semiconductor material," states Frank. "Quite simply, this test allows us to make sure the quality of the cell is above a certain grade."

Brian Tinham

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