1. Solar Power Plant Testing

2. The Big question ? With low cost can it be Viable?
“India will develop 100 GW of solar by 2022!”
Can India do it?

3. Think Solar, Think Germany
Worlds top solar PV capacity of 38 GW (2014), starting with 2 MW in 1990
Germany’s Goal is to produce 35% of electricity from renewable source by 2020 and 100% by 2050

4. How to beat the leaders?
How you beat the leaders, you cant beat germans even if you launch national mission but it will take time. But for solar we have already got national mission launched

5. Strength : Germany Vs India
Area-Germany 357,168 Km Rajasthan 342,239 km2
Average Annual Solar Radiation –
Germany 1200 kWh/SqM ---Rajasthan 2000 kWh/SqM

6. Opportunity Target for 2022 Mission 2050
According to Teri’s research, coal-fired power plants under construction will be built, but no more will be needed after 2025, Because the cost of both renewables and battery storage need to keep falling at their current trajectories. If they come down to half their current price by 2025

7. Weakness Major Failure Events
Source : Inter-solar Conference, Mumbai : 2015

8. Threat Failure in PV modules 3 Year Old Thin Film Module at Site
1.5 Month Old Poly crystalline Module at Site

9. Three prong Path : Reliability on PV modules
To ensure appropriate design, installation, commissioning, and operation of PV systems:
qualifying the design for the intended application (climate zone and mounting configuration),
quality management systems for PV module manufacturing, and
system-level inspections
UL : Bankability services
Independent Performance Testing (extended)
Factory Inspection and QA
Performance Assessment

10. PV Modules - Current State
(Válquez & Rey-Stolle, 2008)
Bankability – build confidence in the module and its components to satisfy the lifetime production goals of a project.
IEC 61730/
UL1703
Safety. For flat-plate PV modules, the relevant safety standard is UL What buyers need to remember is that the intent of this safety standard is to prevent hazards to persons and property, such as electrical shock or fire. While a product that is certified to UL 1703 has successfully passed an essential series of safety tests, this standard does not require that an NRTL verify the module as actually functional at the end of the test sequence. Therefore, safety certification alone is not adequate as a means of qualifying product performance or reliability in the field.
Design qualification. Module buyers and purchasing agents can raise the bar by identifying products qualified to performance standards that the International Electrochemical Commission (IEC) developed. For c-Si PV modules, the relevant design qualification test is IEC 61215, which was also adopted as UL This performance standard not only includes tests and measurements that are not part of the product safety certification process, but also determines whether the test modules remain functional. For example, this standard ensures that test modules operate above a minimum output power threshold (90% of PMAX at STC) after the final light soaking.
Additional tests performed as part of the design qualification process include electrical safety tests (insulation resistance and wet leakage current), environmental tests (thermal cycling, humidity freeze and damp heat), performance tests (PMAX at STC and low irradiance, temperature coefficients and nominal operating cell temperature [NOCT]), and various stress tests (UV exposure, hot-spot endurance and mechanical load tests). While IEC also includes an outdoor exposure test component, the duration of outdoor exposure is limited to just 60 kilowatt-hours per square meter. For a product intended to withstand 20 or 30 years of exposure, this is an exceptionally short test period, equivalent to about 10 days outdoors in Phoenix, Arizona. While the outdoor exposure test may identify problems other laboratory tests do not reveal, its short duration prevents it from being a useful indicator of long-term reliability.
Labeling and sampling. In March 2011, Solar ABCs published a recommended policy report regarding PV module rating requirements (see sidebar). This report not only educates consumers about the potential for discrepancy between nameplate ratings and the output characteristics of delivered PV modules, but also proposes a method for tightening the tolerance between these values, which may reduce financial risk and increase investment in PV systems. Subsequently, in January 2012, Solar ABCs released a proposed standard on “Nameplate, Datasheet, and Sampling Requirements of Photovoltaic Modules,” similar to EN 50380, a standard developed by the EU in 2003.
You should ask your supplier if it has an extended reliability-testing program in place. If so, who oversees the program? Does it have quality management systems in place? If so, are these audited? Does it have independently verified PAN files for use in PVsyst or other modeling programs?
Safety
IEC/UL
61215/61646
Performance
Specialized
Test Protocols
(PV QA Task Force)
Durability/Reliability
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2012

11. Independent Performance testing (Extended)
Test Plan ( climate specific)
UL1703/IEC61730
UL/IEC 61215/62446
Add Climate testing
Add Specialized testing
Add Recommended
Climate/Environment
Specialized
Test #
Description
Moderate ( Bangalore)
Damp (Gujrat)
Dessert ( Rajasthan)
Livestock
Farms
Seaside 1
PID Sequence X 2
Extended Temperature Cycle(TC 400) R 3
Extended Damp Heat(DH 2000 Hrs) 4
Dry-Heat Testing (100 D, Hrs) 5
Sequential Testing (DH+TC+HF) 6
Salt Mist Test 7
Ammonia Test ( or other noxious gases) 8
Mechanical Load (heavy snow load testing) 9
Mechanical Fatigue Testing (wind) 10
Severe Hail Impact Testing 11
Sand Impact Test 12
Fire Test 13
Gel Content 14
Electro-luminescence 15
Infra-Red Imaging 16
Flash Test Sequence 17
Lot-by-lot comparison
Test Plan ( general need)
UL1703/IEC61730
UL/IEC 61215/62446
PID Sequence
Extended TC
Extended DH
Dry-Heat
Mechanical Load (heavy)
Mechanical Fatigue (wind)
Severe Hail
Add Specialized testing
Add Recommended
X = UL Required R = Recommended
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2012

12. Factory Inspection and QA
Realities of a production environment ...
24/7 production runs impact machine tolerances
Variations in the supply chain ( purchasing decisions)
Human error… from shift to shift, from night to day.
… drive need for Quality Systems (QS) …
Incoming goods inspection
Process control and verification
Outgoing product verification
Training of personnel
… and periodic audits.
Similar lines: Factory inspection for Major BOM
UL and the UL logo are trademarks of UL LLC © 2012

13. Performance testing- IEC 62446
IV curve of Strings
Ground Resistance
Any impairment that reduces the fill factor also reduces the output power by reducing Imp or Vmp or both. The I-V curve itself helps us identify the nature of these impairments. The effects of series losses, shunt losses and mismatch losses on the I-V curve are represented in Figure 1.
IR Imaging

14. Visual Defects : Design Flaws

16. Power plant Testing services
Pre construction
During construction
Post construction
Field Testing
Lab testing
Failure analysis
O&M review
Construction Monitoring
Project Management
Risk Management
Factory Inspection
Reliability tests
EYA
Solar Resource assessment
Site Assessment

17. THANK YOU.