Failure of rural photovoltaic solar panels

According to a comprehensive review by researchers from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), overall failure rates for photovoltaic (PV) solar panels have fallen dramatically compared to installations prior to 2000.

The failure of the components affects the reliability of solar PV systems. The published research on the FMEA of PV systems focuses on limited PV module faults, line-line contact faults, string faults, inverter faults, etc. The literature shows that the reliability analysis method is used to evaluate different faults in PV systems.

As solar power proliferates across the U.S., some developers have sought out farmlands for their flat terrain, roadways and electric infrastructure. However, there has been pushback in some rural areas by residents who view large solar arrays as an industrial threat to area scenery and livelihoods .

Faults related to string and central inverter. Errors in PV modules, cables, batteries, inverters, switching devices and protection devices are considered. The failure of the components affects the reliability of solar PV systems.

In order to rank the usefulness of the calculations, impacts beyond the economic component are calculated. Inverters are mostly replaced in the life cycle of PV system due to its limited warranty period and high rate of failure. Reliability of solar PV system is impacted by the failure of inverter.

The risk priority analysis is considered one of the promising approaches for identifying the severity of failure modes. The study reports shows that the inverter and ground system has a failure mode with high RPN. Table 1 summarizes various faults related to solar PV systems as reported in the literature studied. Table 1.