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Problems and failures of solar power plants
Over time, solar panels can develop various problems such as micro-cracks, weather damage, poor connection between cells and shading. These problems can significantly reduce the efficiency of your solar plant, which means less electricity production and consequently higher energy costs. In addition, these problems are often invisible to the naked eye and difficult to detect without the proper equipment. Traditional inspection methods, such as visual inspections, are inadequate and fail to detect these types of defects.
Example: The average annual output of a solar farm depends on several factors, including location, orientation, slope, equipment quality, and weather conditions. In Slovenia, especially in central Slovenia, the average production can vary between 1,000 and 1,200 kWh per kW of installed power per year. For a 20 kW solar power plant, this means: 20kW × (1,000−1,200) kWh/kW = 20,000 − 24,000kWh per year Therefore, we can expect that the average annual production of a 20 kW solar power plant in central Slovenia will be between 20,000 and 24,000 kWh. If such a solar power plant operates with only 10% reduced capacity, you will lose around 2,400 kWh of electricity per year – which at current prices means approx. 600 EUR. Here it is necessary to know that some errors can cause one-third losses on individual panels, and some even 100% loss on individual sets of solar panels
The most common types of errors
Hot spot
A hot spot indicates a fault on an individual panel cell that is overheating. The temperature difference between the hot spot and the rest of the panel is important. A single hot spot can cause up to 90% loss across the entire panel.
Defective diode
Normally, the cells in a solar module are organized into 3 diodes. In this type of error, one of the diodes fails and does not produce energy, which means a 33% loss.
Potential degradation
When a large number of hot spots appear on the panel, resembling a checkerboard pattern, we are talking about potential degradation of the panel. This type of error also affects adjacent panels, appearing at the ends of “strings”
Inoperative panels
All non-working panels are off and overheating. This fault causes the largest losses as it is 100% loss on several panels.
Overheated junction box
The junction box often overheats on the panel. Whether this is a problem is determined by a relative comparison of all cabinets, where we observe whether some are hotter than others
Thin-film cell damage
The anomaly is similar to the hot spots seen on poly and monocrystalline panels. The loss on the panel can be up to 33%.
