PVFRP
5.1 Introduction
In the following subsections, the data after two months of operation of the revised version of the PVFRP is evaluated, presented and compared with the findings from the literature review.
5.2
General Findings
The composition of the revised version of PVFRP is presented in Figures 17 to 21 in order to check the representativeness of the data with respect to the most essential PV system characteristics.
During the first two months of operation of the revised version of the survey, a total of 38 respondents have reported issues associated with PV system components and installation in Australia. Figure 17 demonstrates the type of respondents reported using the revised version of PVFRP. The majority of failures have been reported by the owner/operator (27 users).
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Figure 17: Respondents by Types
Figure 18 demonstrates the geographical distribution of the respondents. While one report had been recorded from Tasmania, most of the other States recorded between two to ten reports. However, there had not been any reports from the Northern Territory.
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Figure 18: PV Systems by Locations
The sizes of systems reported vary broadly, with most of the reports lodged for systems of 1.1kW to 5kW (28 systems) as can be seen in Figure 19. Most of the PV systems reported are grid-connected PV systems without batteries (21out of 38). There are also 7 PV systems are grid connected with batteries Figure 20.
10 5 4 3 2 2 1 11 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
WA QLD VIC NSW SA ACT Tasmania Unanswered
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Figure 19: Systems by Size
Figure 20: System by Types
Figure 21 illustrates the number of entries for each of the different sections.
Grid connected with batteries, 7 Standalone/Off-grid, 0 Grid connected without batteries, 21 Unanswered, 10
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Figure 21: Distribution of Different Fault Reports
5.3
PV Module Section
5.3.1
Module Failure Types
The repoted failure types vary broadly (26 entries). Glass breakage (5entries) was found to be slightly more common as can be seen in Figure 22 and
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Figure 22: Module Failure Types
The other failures found within the PV module reported failures included: Framing issues, encapsulant discolouration issues, and cell interconnect. The problems reported in the Module section are similar to those failures found during a visual inspection (Kontges et al., 2014) and the IEA survey (Köntges et al. 2017). For example, delamination, bubbling, burnt diodes, and loose contacts within junction box are found in all these four studies. Cell discolouration issues including cracks or snail trails were not reported in the revised version. In general, the PV module failures reported through the revised version of PVFRP are similar to those found in the original version of the PVFRP.
5.3.2
Module Certification and/or Labelling Issues
There are 11 entries with the certification and/or labelling of PV modules which can be seen in 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Glass Breakage Framing Encapsulant Discolouration Cell Interconnect (e.g. burn marks) Junction box (e.g. loose contact, burnt diode, etc)
Backsheet (e.g. bubbling, delamination, hole) Module cable or connector (e.g. mechanical damage,
overheating)
Others
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Table 5. The modules that are not CEC approved, and modules that do not have manufacturer's warranty are found to be the top three issues.
Table 5: Certification Issues of PV Modules
Failure Types
No of Failures Reported Non-certified components used in modules 1
Modules are not CEC approved 3
Modules are not correctly labelled 1
Modules do not have manufacturer's warranty 2
have but not identify 4
total 11
5.4
Inverters
There are 24 entries associated with failures in inverters (
Table 6). In the revised version of PVFRP inverters suffered complete failures and partial failures also dominate the total reported failures with 9 reported failures and 6reported failures respectively (Figure 23). Only 7 out of 9 inverters with complete failures had been fixed, and 2 out of 6 inverters with partial failures had been fixed. Participants also reported some customer support issues associated with inverter failures: Getting defective inverters fixed take quite a while, with four of the reported inverters taking 3 months in order to be replaced. The other failures found within the PV inverter reported failures included: Safety issues, and unknown failure and other inverter issues. In general, the findings within the Inverter section in up to 30 of November 2017through the revised version of the PVFRP are similar to those found in the original version of the PVFRP.
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Figure 23 Inverter Failure Types
Table 6: Inverter Failure Types
Failure Types
No of Entries
Complete failure 9
Partial failure 6
Other (specify by users) 6
Safety issue 2
Unknown 1
Total 24
5.5
Other Equipment
There are 23 entries in Other Equipment section (Error! Reference source not found.) w hich include: 5 failures with rooftop isolators, 4 failures with the framing/mounting structure, 4 failures with the main DC cable, 3 failures with the PV array isolator, 3 failures in the battery, and 2 failures with the optimiser. Failures in the the battery are also recognised in the “All India Survey of Photovoltaic Module Degradation” in 2014 (Chattopadhyay et al. 2015) and revised version of PVFRP. In general, the findings within
Complete failure, 9 Partial failure, 6 Other (specify by users), 6 Safety … Unknown, 1 Other, 9
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this section in up to 30 of November 2017 through the revised version of the PVFRP are similar to those found in the original version of the PVFRP.
5.6
Installation Issues
There are 33 entries to the revised version of PVFRP associated with installation in PV systems and components which dominate all the reported failures (Table 7 and Figure 24).
Table 7: Installation Issues Types
Installation issues No of Failures
Inadequate cable protection 3
Missing or inadequate documentation 3
PV system not allowing roof self-cleaning i.e. build-up of leaves etc. 3
Incorrect or inappropriate labelling 3
Inappropriate location for inverter (i.e. poor access, poor ventilation, exposed to direct
sunlight, etc) 3
Corrosion of equipment due to contact between dissimilar metals 2
Incorrect rating of components (please specify which component, i.e. cable, isolator, fuse
etc) 2
Insufficient ventilation limiting airflow around modules 2
Water ingress into component enclosures 2
Inadequate earthing of module frames 2
Inadequate sealing of roof penetrations (i.e. roof leaking) 2
DC and AC wiring inadequately segregated 2
Incorrect wiring of polarised DC circuit breaker 1
Insufficient array fixing 1
Exposed live conductor 1
Incorrect functional earthing 1
Total 33
In general, the repoted failure types vary broadly, and are fairly evenly distributed over the different types.Installation reported failures have also been recognised by different studies such as he PV System Safety Audit of 20 Public School Installations in Perth in 2011 and All India Survey of Photovoltaic Module Degradation in 2014. For example, the revised version of PVFRP up to 30 of November 2017 and the school audit obtained the following similar findings: inadequate cable protection, inadequate or missing documentation,
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inappropriate or incorrect labelling, an inadequate or incorrect rating of the component, and use of standard multi-core TPS cable for DC.
The revised version of PVFRP up to 30 of November 2017 and All India Survey of Photovoltaic Module Degradation in 2014 identified similar findings such as over-rating of modules and Fault of PV systems, and water ingress into component enclosures.
Figure 24: Installation Issues Types
Some safety problems were also reported (Figure 24) such as incorrect wiring of polarised DC circuit breakers, inadequate earthing of module frames,water ingress into component
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enclosures, exposed live conductor, missing or inadequate documentation, incorrect wiring of polarised DC circuit breaker and incorrect rating of components (e.g. isolators, fuses, and cable).
Installation reported failures through the revised version of the PVFRP have also been recognised by the original version of PVFRP mention early (section 4.6).
In general, the findings within the Inverter section in up to 30 of November 2017through the revised version of the PVFRP are similar to those found in the original version of the PVFRP.
In general, the findings within this section in up to 30 of November 2017 through the revised version of the PVFRP are similar to those found in the original version of the PVFRP.
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