Sensor Placement Strategy for Locating Photovoltaic Array Failures

Nowadays, photovoltaic systems face numerous challenges, including the lack of effective monitoring systems and real-time fault diagnosis applications, particularly for large-scale photovoltaic facilities. Moreover, the standard failure location process is complicated and time-consuming. In this regard, the following paper provides a fault localization technique that incorporates a current sensor array with fewer detectors as compared to the literature's standard approaches as well as the flexibility to switch among two topologies for the detection and localization of open circuits, short circuits, and partial shadows. While the fault location criteria for each of the previously stated failures are established, the proposed technique is most effective when an identically dimensions photovoltaic array is applied. The photovoltaic modules are designed using Matlab and Proteus software. Furthermore, providing a web application to visualize the faulty panels. Ultimately, this investigation suggests the potential use of the proposed approaches for dynamic reconfiguration and low maintenance expense.