Non-Contact Monitoring of Operating Conditions for Solar Cells in a Photovoltaic Module Using a Surface Potential Meter for Detecting the Risk of Fire

Fires in photovoltaic modules are caused by hot spots, which are typically monitored by thermal images. This method helps visualize the hot spot, but it is affected by the environment (solar irradiance, wind, ambient temperature) and is not reproducible. Assessing the heat dissipation of the hot cell can be used for alternative assessment of the fire risk. This method was validated by comparing the value measured by the surface potential meter and the module potential measured directly by adding a bypass measurement circuit. The substantial reverse-bias voltage caused by mismatching or partial shading (depending on the operating conditions) leads to local heat consumption of the partially shaded solar cells and potentially causes fire. The fire risk can be assessed in the worst-case conditions (ex. 1380 W/m2 solar irradiance) by non-contact measurement of the reverse-bias voltage and calculating the heat dissipation and temperature rise. This work suggested that −13 V is the criterion and was close to the known value of reverse voltage for Si cells. The current technology inspects solar cells before assembly to the module, and there is no way of inspecting in the product test or detecting after degradation that can be covered by the proposed method in this work.