Disconnection Detection Using Earth Capacitance Measurement in Photovoltaic Module String

A disconnection detection method using an earth capacitance measurement in photovoltaic (PV) module string was experimentally studied. In the experiments with disconnections between PV modules in the string, the earth capacitance of the string was increased in proportion to the module number, and this feature resulted in that the disconnection position between the modules could be estimated by comparing the earth capacitance value of the failed string with that of the good string. Since the earth capacitance was not affected by the irradiance change, the detection method could be applied anytime to locate the disconnection position in the string without the effect of the irradiance change. Moreover, this method could be applied not only to the string consisting of the crystalline Si modules but also to the string consisting of the amorphous Si modules. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.