A METHOD TO DETECT PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY

FAULTS AND PARTIAL SHADING IN PV SYSTEMS

PRESENTED BY

Ansab Abbasi

Enrollment no:01-244161-002

MSEE(Power)
 Table of contents
Abstract
Classification of faults
Partial Shading and permanent faults
Line-Line Fault analysis
Effect of Partial Shading
Operation of Photovoltaic on Cloudy Day
Fault Detection Algorithm and Conclusion
Summary
References
 Abstract
This paper proposes a method to detect faults and partial
shading under all irradiation conditions using the measured
values of array voltage, array current, and irradiance

The proposed method is tested experimentally to verify its

effectiveness under different irradiation conditions

The proposed method enables classification of the status of

the PV array into three possible scenarios
Classification of Status of PV
Array
Normal Operation

PV Array

Partial Shading Fault

Classification of Faults
Faults that occur in PV systems could be classified as
line-ground faults, line-line faults, open-circuit faults, and
partial shading.

Line-ground faults are not treated separately in this paper,

as they can be considered to be a special case of a line-
line fault, involving a ground point[2].
Classification of Faults
Line-line faults can be quantified based on the number of
PV modules that have mismatch. It is shown in [2] that a
line-line fault with a larger number of PV modules
mismatched ceases power generation from the faulted PV
string, if blocking diodes are used in the PV array.

This is similar to an open-circuit fault condition. It is,

therefore, clear that it is sufficient to detect line-line faults,
as this would automatically detect line-ground, as well as
open- circuit faults. The above faults are permanent in
nature.
Classification of Faults
The PV Array Setup
The PV array considered in this paper has four strings
with four series modules in each of them.

.As the maximum power voltage (Vmp) for one module is

36.5 V, the Vmp for whole array is 146 V (36.5 x 4).

With such high operating voltage, the forward voltage

drop in blocking diode of around 0.7 V is negligible
 Partial shading and Permanent Faults
It is necessary to distinguish between partial shading and permanent faults
in PV arrays to improve the overall efficiency and reliability. For this, two
variables, namely, gamma (Y) and array losses (Larray), are introduced.

Gamma () is the ratio of instantaneous dc power to

instantaneous irradiance, which is expressed as follows.

where G is the instantaneous irradiance on unshaded portion

of the PV array, VPV is the instantaneous PV array voltage, and
IPV is the instantaneous PV array current. Y has SI units of m2.
Partial shading and Permanent Faults
Array losses (Larray) is the difference between
instantaneous expected power and actual power, which is
expressed as

Here, Pm is the maximum power of PV array at a refer

ence irradiance of Go at 1000 W/m2.

The instantaneous solar irradiance (G) is measured using

a reference PV module
Line-Line Fault Analysis
One Module Mismatched: A line-line fault with a mis
match in one module, i.e., between strings 3 and 4 (fault
#3 in Fig. 1), is introduced.
This fault is analyzed with help of P-V curves under
normal and faulted conditions under standard test
conditions (STCtemperature of 25 C and irradiance of
1000 W/m2).
The difference between prefault MPP and postfault MPP
is found to 203 W
Line-Line Fault Analysis
A different PV array comprising of eight PV modules was
connected in series to make a string, and five such strings
were connected in parallel.

It is observed that the difference between the prefault and post

fault MPPs for the second array is 530 W, which is close to the
500 W (twice the maximum power rating of one PV module).

For this change in power, the corresponding change in the

value of Y is determined by (1), which equals 0.2 m2 in this
case. In conclusion, a line-line fault with one module
mismatched can be identified by the sudden fall in the value of
Y greater than or equal to 0.2 m2
PV Curve
Experimental results of lineline
fault with one module mismatch.
Observation From Data
The array voltage falls from around 145 to 125 V at the
instant of fault occurrence
There is no significant change in array current and power.

The value of keeps on changing even before the occur

rence of fault. However, there is only a gradual change in
the value of and no large changes. However, at the
instant of the fault, drops steeply from 1.58 to 1.36 m 2.
Thus, the change in is 0.22 m2 at the instant of fault oc
currence. This is greater than the previously established
threshold (at STC) of 0.2 m2
Experimental results of lineline fault with two
modules mismatch.
Observation From Data
Array current shows a small drop at the instant when the
fault occurs, but later on, it follows the profile of the
irradiance.
The array voltage does not change much as one string
has been opened due to the blocking of back-feed current
by the blocking diode of the faulted string.
drops steeply from 1.41 to 1.1 m2 at the instant when
the fault occurs
Effect of Partial Shading

Partial Shading

Dynamic
Shading
Static Shading
Effect of Partial Shading
Static partial shading refers to shading that is caused by
objects that have adhered to the glass surface of the PV
modules, such as bird droppings, leaves, or accumulated
dirt.

Dynamic shading is caused due to nearby buildings,

trees, chimneys, nearby PV module frames, or other roof-
top structures.
Types of Dynamic Shading
Type1: The shaded area of the PV array starts from
zero and keeps on increasing till sun set.

Type2: The shaded area of the PV array starts from

zero, increases to a maximum value, and goes back to
zero.

Type3: The shaded area of the PV array starts from a

maximum value during sunrise and decreases to zero as
time passes.
Experimentation
The type-1 dynamic shading was emulated on the
experimental PV array setup.

The dynamic shading condition is emulated by using a

cardboard near the PV array.

The sampling time at which L(array) was recorded is 5

min, while sampling time for Y and irradiance is 3 s.

For reference, the same parameters are plotted under uni

form irradiance
Experimental results for Dynamic Shading
Experimental results for normal operation.
Observation of Data
The waveform of Y shows that there is no sudden drop
due to the dynamic shading unlike line-line faults. Rather,
Y decreases gradually as the shadow starts lengthening
across the modules.

By fixing a threshold for increase in Larray, it is possible to

discriminate between uniform irradiance and dynamic
shading.
Thus, dynamic shading of type-1 can be detected if the
maximum losses under normal conditions are defined as
the threshold for Larray
Operation of the Photovoltaic Array on a
Cloudy Day
The value of Y remains almost around 1.6 m 2 when there
is no cloud cover.

When the irradiance dips suddenly due to fast moving

clouds, Y also drops to values as low as 1.1 m 2

By computing the sum of two successive changes in Y,

these sudden aberrations can be filtered.

Computation of the average value of Y over few minutes

helps further if the sum of two successive slopes is larger
than threshold value for faults
Threshold for Larray
Larray is maximum at irradiance levels in the range of 50 to
150 W/m2. Thus, Larray at an irradiance of 100 W/m2 is set
as its threshold for the detection of partial shading
Fault Detection Algorithm
There are two variables used in the proposed fault
detection algorithm.
i: This variable refers to the instant of the measurement of
array voltage, current, and irradiance. The sampling time
for the measurement of array voltage, current, and
irradiance is 3 s.
count: This is used to keep count of time so that Larray is
monitored every 5 min. Larray is checked with the threshold
when count reaches 100, which is equivalent to (100 x 3)
seconds, or 5 min.
Fault Detection Algorithm
Step 1: The variable offset is used in the decision box #2
whenever partial shading is detected. Thus, it is set to
zero initially. The variable count is set to zero.
Step 2: The change in is computed for the ith and (i-1)th
samples
Step 3: If the sum of two successive changes in is less
than 1 , then calculate the average of over 4 min using
the following expression
Fault Detection Algorithm
Otherwise, the control is transferred to decision box #3
(step3). If the average of , k1 is less than the threshold
mentioned in decision box #2, then a fault has occurred
and the PV array is shut down. Otherwise, 80 (equivalent
to 4 min) is added to variables i and count. Then, the
control goes to the previous step.
Step 4: When the control enters this step, the variable
count is compared with 100. If count is less than 100 then
the variables count and i are incremented, and the control
goes to step 2. Otherwise, Larray is calculated and the
control goes to the next step
Fault Detection Algorithm
Step 5: If Larray is greater than e3, the control goes to the
next step. Else, the variable check is assigned zero, and
the control flow goes to step 7.
Step 6: If check is equal to 1, then offset is set to 0.1, as
the PV array is under partial shading. Variable check is
reset to zero, and the control goes to the next step.
Otherwise, check is assigned one, and control flow goes
to the next step.
Step 7: The variable count is reset zero. The variable i is
incremented, and the control flow is transferred to step 2.
Conclusion
This paper has proposed the use of two variables: and
Larray for distinguishing between normal operation and fault
conditions in an experimental PV array.
Based on these two variables, a fault detection algorithm
was proposed.
This algorithm is proven to be successful in distinguishing
between three possible scenarios: normal operation,
partial shading, and permanent faults.
This algorithm was found to work accurately under fast-
moving cloud conditions
Reference
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D. Stellbogen, Use of PV circuit simulation for fault detection in PV array fields, in

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P. Bulanyi and R. Zhang, "Shading analysis & improvement for distributed residential
grid-connected photovoltaic systems," presented at the 52nd Annu. Conf. Australian
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A. D. Jones and C. P. Underwood, "A thermal model for photovoltaic systems," Sol.
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