PV TRAINING – DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND

MAINTENANCE
Q&A SESSION 4

September – October 2010

http://www.leonardo-energy.org/node/5948

takam pascal 2: Could we bypass a
module in case of its breakdown
greenproc: when is a laboratory
certified?
If you bypass a module, the voltage in the
string varie and this could originate a wrong
working of the inverter. (different voltages in
parallel strings)
When it respects the in force standard of a
country. You must verify if your country has
a standard about it, and besides exists an
entity that can issue the certification
according this standard
chibunna: what does panel yellowing
mean and how to overcome that
Amr ELHUSSEINI 2: How reliable is sun
trackers in dusty, sandy weathers
Sachin: Does Generalia plan to start
operations in India?
Elmer Enerio: Advance Q: The 1MWp PV
Plant in the Philippines had major panel
replacements for about 3,000 units.
There were visible cracks in the surface
of the panels. Is this a common and
expected future defects for most PV
panels? With these number of unit
replacements, this is considered a major
maintenance issue.
Pat Byrnes: What legislation applies to
maintenace of PV Systems in Spain?
alvaro: is pannel cleaning to be foreseen Except zones with important pollution, the
in the maintenance plan
It is a problem that can come from the
deterioration of the plastic protections of the
photovoltaic cells. These elements are
called: EVA and TEDLAR. It can be produced
a phenomenon of yellowing of this plastic
elements concretely. In this case, if it is the
EVA, (which wraps the cells), its transparent
color changes into yellow, and it does not
allow the flow of light in a clean way. If the
plastic elements (EVA or TEDLAR)
degenerate much can happen that the
oxides enter even inside the cells, oxidizing
the silicon and producing the yellowing of
the own cell and its degradation. This fault
has to be inmediately communicated to the
manufacturer. You cannot correct this fault
by your own
It is not recommendable to use sun trackers
in these environments except in the case
that the manufacturer authorizes it. The
elements of motorización of the follower in
this type of environments can be affected,
as well as the elements of positioning (end
course detectors and others)
No, we haven´t got any plant in India
This percentage of cracked panels is not
usual . For instance, our solar plant in
Toledo (Spain) have 8,000 panels. After 4
years working constantly, we have had only
6 cracked panels. Please, contact your
supplier for inquiries.
It doesn´t exist in Spain at present, but
nowadays there is an ongoing code that will
gather a set of maintenance operations
losses for dirt are not so high. If the zone is
rainy, our experience says to us that we
must not clean panels. If there is very few
rain or the zone has a strong conditions of
dirt, can clean them periodically. Please,
analyze the production in a dirty string and
in a cleaned one to verify the losses in bouth
cases.
2
himanshu.chaube@gmail.com: how to Recommendations: 1. You can use thin film
keep module cool in hot areas modules halving the thermal losses
compared to the crystalline panels. (Losses:
Thin film 2 % each 10 º. Crystaline: 4 %/10
º), but you will need more land surface
because his efficiency is lower/2. Keep a
reasonable distance between panel and roof
3. If it is possible, avoid valleys and choose
locations with high altitude
ddixon@fsl.org.jm: For small plants say Solar trackers entail a major surveillance &
3kw, which design of solar tracker is maintenance. In a 3 kW facility we don´t
best suited? recommend its use
Ministry of Electricity and Energy - Please, get the PV webinar number 5 to see
Egypt: could we discuss a feed in tariff and understand a financial model with
model for this kind of projects at the last Spanish and German cases
session?
Avikul: what about lower temperatures? No problems with panels, very good
for canada we have sub-zero ... performance. For inverters, please read
briefings talking about its operation
temperatures, and protect this element
putting it into a small building
alex nyembo kalenga: is it necessaty to The manufacturer doesn´t cover all the
insure the all system? because the panel incidences, as thefts, fires or meteorological
manuffacturer gives already 20 to 25 problems
years guarranty.