Monitoring of Defects of a Photovoltaic Power Plant Using a Drone

Abstract

Drone infrared camera monitoring of photovoltaic (PV) power plants allows us to quickly see a large area and to find the worst defects in PV panels, namely cracked PV cells with broken contacts. Roofs are suitable for the integration of PV power plants into buildings. The power plant at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, which was monitored by this method, does not show any significant defects, and the produced electric energy exceeds the expected values. On the contrary, the PV power plant in Ladná has visible defects, and the data monitoring system Solarmon-2.0 also indicates defects. Our newly developed data monitoring system Solarmon-2.0 has been successfully used in 65 PV power plants in the Czech Republic and in many PV power plants throughout the world. Data are archived and interpreted in our dispatch area at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. The monitoring system can report possible failure(s) if the measured amount of energy differs from the expected value(s). The relation of the measured values of PV power to the PV panel temperature is justified, which is consistent with the physical theory of semiconductors.