Filed Study on the Severity of Photovoltaic Potential Induced Degradation

Abstract

Abstract Photovoltaic systems can be affected by different types of defects, faults, and mismatching conditions. In the last couple of years, the PV industry caught upon a severe problem in PV systems, so-called potential induced degradation (PID). The PID appears over time (months or even years); it may be undetectable at an early installation stage of the PV system. However, over time, it becomes apparent as it might lead to a significant drop in the output power. This paper conducts a field study of PV modules affected by PID over two successive years. With the support of thermal and electroluminescent imaging, the PID was discovered. Furthermore, it was found that the PID emerged in the PV modules after being in the field of different timing 4 to 8 months and led to a drop in the output power in the range of 27–39%. An anti-PID box was fitted during the second year of the PV operation to recover the PID. Accordingly, it has stabilized the power degradation, but it could not restore the performance of the affected PID as compared with healthy/non-PID modules.