Site 2.15
Site ID
2.15
Health
COD
2018
Nominal Capacity
15 kWp
Average Specific Yield
1185 kWh/kWp
Total Estimated Loss
48.11%
Possible Gain
5% to 10%
CAPEX, OPEX
4.6 ₹/Wp, 0.87 ₹/Wp/a
Expenditure / Energy
18.3 ₹/kWh to 9.2 ₹/kWh
Abstract
The PV plant shows moderate levels of soiling. The system design disregarded near shading and self-shading losses. Poor cable management was found. Cracks of different severities were detected via EL inspection. It is recommended to (i) increase the cleaning cycles, (ii) trimming of trees surrounding the system if allowed by the authorities, (iii) install an irradiation sensor on the tilted plane to compute and check the Performance Ratio, (iv) re-sort the modules according to level of mechanical damage, and (v) rearrange the strings based on the shading situation. The estimated production boost expected by the retrofitting actions lies between 5% and 10%.
Image gallery
Main Findings
Poor cable management: Module cables are not attached to the frame or laying on the ground, and a broken cable was found.
Self-shading due to a reduced inter-row distance.
An antenna, a water tank, and building rods cast shadows on the system.
The front row has a different tilt angle (15.8°) from the back rows.
Self-shading accounts over 5.5% due to reduced inter-row distance.
A junction box was found with a deformed lid.
Evidence of local fauna walking over the system was found.
Bonding between modules were not found.
No weather station was found on site.
The modules present hot cells, likely due to inter-row shading.
Impact on Performance
Heavy Soiling
A soiling loss of 21% was determined from IV curve measurements of a module before and after cleaning.
Estimated Loss
≈ 21%
Near Shading
A building is under construction at the South-East side of the site. According to the simulation, the near shading losses account for 4.11%.
Estimated Loss
≈ 4.11%
Cell Cracks
According to EL imaging, the system is not expected to have a large power loss. Nevertheless, cells with multi-cracks were found.
Estimated Loss
≈ 6%
Underperformance
The underperformance of the measured modules is around 10.3%.
Estimated Loss
≈ 10.3%
Total Estimated Energy Loss
≈ 48.11%
Proposed Solutions
A weather station, or at least an irradiation sensor on the module plane, shall be installed to properly determine the performance of the system.
The cleaning cycles shall be increased based on the results of a soiling study that adjusts the cleaning needs to each season.
Module with damaged junction box shall be replaced.
The trees surrounding the system shall be trimmed if allowed. Otherwise, a re- stringing of the modules with similar shading conditions shall be installed in the same string or at least assigned to one MPPT.
Modules with heavy cracks shall be grouped in the same string or at least assigned to one MPPT. The grouping will be conducted based on infrared inspection.