A comparative study and performance analysis of poly and mono Si photovoltaic modules

Abstract

Interest on generating power from photovoltaic (PV) system is increasing day by day. This study investigates the performance of commercially available poly and mono Si photovoltaic (PV) modules under different temperature and illumination conditions. While mono Si module shows better solar cell features in terms of series resistance, reverse saturation current and fill factor. On the other hand, the photo generated current and output power of mono Si module are found to be much lower than those obtained with poly Si module. Lower photo-generated current in mono Si module is attributed to higher recombination in thick bulk layer of mono Si cell, which is probably due to the lower than required crystal grade of mono Si module. Furthermore, the performance of power generation from PV systems can be affected by certain factors which can be detected early by proper monitoring technique. Infrared (IR) thermography is a well-known non-destructive technique which can detect localized heating and identify hotspot. In this study active thermography has been applied to detect possible anomalies considering visual inspection. One of the main findings is that PV modules have some defects which is visually observable. Junction box creates heat that may impact on the module performance. The findings of this work suggest the importance of preventive maintenance for quality control of commercially available PV modules.