Analysis of degradation diagnosis methods of PV modules depending on wildfires

Nowadays, the installation of photovoltaic(PV) systems has increased. Also, there are many mountainous PV systems based on mountainous terrain. On March, there are large wildfires occurred in Korea, which could affect the PV systems. Therefore, the effect of fire of mountainous PV systems have to examine. In this paper, performance of PV module depending on wildfires is confirmed through the performance ratio(PR), Power Performance Index(PPI). Also, degradation of PV modules is measured using Infrared(IR) camera, I-V curve tracer and Electroluminescence(EL) devices. Through this study, decreased performance of PV systems due to wildfires is confirmed. Also, Hot spots and chess pattern EL images of PV strings depending on degradation are confirmed. However, degradation of PV modules is difficult to confirm using I-V curve tracer or performance factors. Therefore, the degradation due to wildfires should have to anlayze using EL devices and performance is monitored continuously for safety of PV systems.