Vol. 15, No.

2 2021

SIMULATION OF FAULT DETECTION IN PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAYS

Róbert Lipták, István Bodnár
Institute of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Egyetemi út 1, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
In solar systems, faults in the module and inverter occur in proportion to increased operating time. The identification of
fault types and their effects is important information not only for manufacturers but also for investors, solar operators
and researchers. Monitoring and diagnosing the condition of photovoltaic (PV) systems is becoming essential to
maximize electric power generation, increase the reliability and lifetime of PV power plants. Any faults in the PV
modules cause negative economic and safety impacts, reducing the performance of the system and making unwanted
electric connections that can be dangerous for the user. In this paper have been classified all possible faults that happen
in the PV system, and is presented to detect common PV array faults, such as open-circuit fault, line-to-line fault,
ground fault, shading condition, degradation fault and bypass diode fault. In this studies examines the equivalent
circuits of PV arrays with different topological configurations and fault conditions to evaluate the effects of these faults
on the performance of a solar system, taking into account the influence of temperature and solar radiation. This work
presents the validation of a simulated solar network by measuring the output curves of a low-power photovoltaic array
system under real outdoor conditions. This method can be useful in future solar systems.

Keywords: photovoltaic (PV) arrays, electric faults, common PV array faults, fault detection, partial shading,

1. INTRODUCTION
Every situation of modern life depends on electricity. Solar-generated electricity is a very clean and
desirable way to compensate our reliance on fossil fuels produced electricity [1]. PV systems operate
quietly and have low maintenance requirements. It can offer extremely high reliability, and with the
modularity features, the PV systems have very flexible system sizing for integration into buildings and for
decentralized applications down to minimal load demands.
However, electric faults in PV arrays generate significant power losses, therefore it is necessary for
effective ways to detect and classify these faults in order to improve system efficiency and reliability [2, 4].
Operational faults of the photovoltaic system is one of the important factor affecting the power-generation
efficiency. But besides this, the performance of a photovoltaic system depends on the temperature of
operation of the solar panels, solar radiation. Overall, the problems related to solar systems thus fall into
three main categories: environmental effects, panel specific problems, electrical fails. Many cases can lead
to failure. A possible way to identify to abnormal heat caused by faults, to measure the surface temperature
of the PV modules by thermal camera. But the process is time consuming and we cannot provide testing of
solar panels at all times [3].

2. PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) MODULE MODELLING

To simulate the operation of a solar cell, the first step is to establish its electronic model. Solar panels are
composed of multiple solar cells connected in series. A photovoltaic array can be made by connecting
multiple solar panels. In this section, a one diode solar cell model is described in order to simulate
photovoltaic arrays of dimensions 𝑁𝑠 x 𝑁𝑝, which means the array is composed of 𝑁𝑝 strings connected in
parallel, and each string is composed of 𝑁𝑠 solar panels connected in series. Both internal and wire
resistance is represented by an ohmic resistance in this case. A capacitor can also be connected in parallel
to the diode, representing the parasitic capacitance between the two poles of the diode, but because of its
value, it is negligible. Fig. 1. shows this model [5].

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Figure 1. The circuit model of the solar cell

The produced current of the current generator depends on the intensity of illumination. The output current
can be described with the following equation [3, 4, 5]:

𝐼 = 𝐼𝑝ℎ − 𝐼𝐷 − 𝐼𝑃 . (1)

The photocurrent 𝐼𝑝ℎ can be described with the following equation [4, 5]:

𝛽(𝐼𝑠𝑐 + 𝐾𝑖 (𝑇 − 𝑇𝑟 ))
𝐼𝑝ℎ = (2)
1000

The ID diode current can be defined by the help of the I s diode saturation current, depending on the voltage
and constants. [4, 5]:

𝑒 ∙ 𝑈𝐷
𝐼𝐷 = 𝐼𝑆 [𝑒𝑥𝑝 ( ) − 1] (3)
𝑛 ∙ 𝑘 ∙ 𝑇 ∙ 𝑁𝑆

The shunt current in the solar cell model 𝐼P can be described with the following equation[4, 5]:

𝑈𝐷 𝑈 + 𝐼 ∙ 𝑅𝑆
𝐼𝑃 = = (4)
𝑅𝑃 𝑅𝑃

The voltage is the following[5]:

𝑈 = 𝑈𝐷 − 𝑈𝑆 (5)

Ideally 𝑅𝑝 ≈ ∞ and by shorting the circuit means: 𝑅𝐷 ≫ 𝑅𝑠 (𝑅𝐶𝑝 ≫ 𝑅𝑠)

3. DEFINITION OF TYPICAL FAULTS ON DC SIDE OF IN PV SYSTEM

Because some electrical faults, such as discrepancies, always occur in each array, they result in the
available DC power of the array being significantly less than the predicted level. Table 1. shows the typical
electrical faults of PV system [3,6].

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Table 1. Typical electrical faults of PV system [3, 4, 6]

Type of fault Description of fault Part

An unintentional path to ground with zero fault impedance occurs
Upper ground fault
between the last two modules at PV string
An unintentional path to ground with zero fault impedance occurs
Lower ground fault between the 2nd and the 3rd two modules at PV string with large
backfeed current
An arc fault due to discontinuity in any of the current carrying
Series arc fault conductors resulting from solder disjoint, cell damage, corrosion of
connectors, rodent damage, abrasion from different sources
Parallel arc fault Insulation breakdown in current carrying conductors
DC
An accidental short-circuit between two points in a string with
Line-to-line faults
different potentials
Bypass diode faults Short-circuit in case of incorrect connection
Low- resistance connection between two points of different
Bridging fault
potential in string of module or cabling
Physical breakdown of panel-panel cables or joints, objects falling
Open-circuit fault on PV panels, and loose termination of cables, plugging and
unplugging connectors at junction boxes
MPPT faults Problem in MPPT charge controllers
Cabling faults Disconnected cables AC/DC
Failure of each component of inverter such as IGBTs, capacitors,
Inverter faults AC
and drive circuitry can result in inverter failure
Sudden natural
Total blackout due to Lightning, storm, and so forth AC/DC
disasters

In addition to electrical faults, in many cases there may be environmental problems in PV systems which
can lead to performance degradation. The Hot spots is the most common issues with PV systems. Hot spots
caused by the accumulation of dirt on the panels, shadow on the panels, badly soldered connections (it can
happens during the production process). Besides many panel-specific problems can occur during operation,
which can also lead to performance degradation.
Table 2. Typical environmental problems and panel-specific fails of PV system [3, 4, 6]

Type of fault Description of fault

The bird droppings and dirt on the surface of a PV
Soiling
module
Environmental Snow covering The worst temperatures depending on the geographical
effects Hot spots location and different weather conditions
Irradiance
Various irradiance intensity during the day
distribution
Yellowing and browning, delamination, internal
Panel specific
Degradation faults corrosion, micro-cracks, increasing of the internal series
problems
resistance

Fig. 2 shows a circuit diagram of the main faults that are analysed in this work.

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(a) (b)

Figure 2. Circuit diagram of the main faults in PV array systems. (a) open-circuit and short-circuit fault and grounding fault (b)
partial shading degradation fault and bypass diode fault

3.1. Open Circuit Fault

An open-circuit fault (shown as F1 in Figure 2.) is an accidental disconnection at a normal conductor
during operation. Open circuit faults are symmetrical between strings. If the solar panels of the PV system
have the same technical specifications and that all of them are under the same solar radiation and
temperature conditions, in an open circuit fault, the voltage at the output of each string is the same. This
means that if a string has an open circuit fault, the voltage at the output of the remaining strings will still be
the same.
The voltage at the maximum power point will be the same even if the array changes its number of strings –
because. Adding or removing strings, the equivalent circuit is only changing the output current of the full
array [3,4,6].

3.2. Line-to-Line Fault

Line-to-line faults (shown as F2.a and F2.b in Figure 2.) in PV array systems are symmetrical between
strings. This type of faults causing low impedance between two different strings in the PV array. It could
happen inside PV arrays and potentially may involve large fault current or dc arcs. This paper examines
line-to-line faults which are defined as an accidental short-circuiting between two points in the array with
different potentials. A line-to-line fault can reverse the current flow through the faulty string. The
amplitude of the fault current depends on the voltage difference between the points of the strings that are
causing the fault [4,7]. Over Current Protection Devices (OCPD) are used to detect line-to-line faults, but
these devices have some limitations if the current is lower than a threshold. If the line-to-line fault occurs
under low illumination
(e.g., during the night, night-to-day transition, during the morning, day-to-night transition), the current
through the affected string/strings is not large enough to melt the OCPD, and the fault may remain
undetected until sufficient illumination is present to clear the OCPD [4,7].

3.3. Ground Fault

A ground fault (shown as F3 in Figure 2.) establishes an unintentional low impedance path between one of
the current carrying conductors (CCCs) and the ground/earth, and a large fire in a PV array often destroys
the origin of the fault. Several potential reasons for ground faults:

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1. cable insulation damage during the installation, due to aging, impact damage, water leakage, and
corrosion;
2. ground fault within the PV modules (e.g., degraded sealant and water ingress);
3. insulation damage of cables due to chewing done by rodents;
4. accidental short circuit inside the PV combiner box, often at the time of maintenance.
If a ground fault remains undetected, it may generate a dc arc within the fault and cause a fire hazard [4,7].

3.4. Partial Shading Fault

Partial shading is the phenomenon that a PV array receives uneven irradiation and temperature caused by
passing clouds, adjacent buildings and towering trees and so on [8,9]. In the case of partial shading faults
(shown as F4 in Figure 2), one part of the PV array is shaded while the other part is fully irradiated
according to the current irradiation value resulting output power reduction. As the irradiation value is
constantly changing, the actual irradiation value must also be taken into account when examining faults.
When the PV array is partially shaded, the MPP current of the PV array declines obviously, but the short-
circuit current and the open-circuit voltage of the PV array are basically invariant [3].

3.5. Degradation Fault

A degradation fault (shown as F5 in Figure 2) occurs attributed to the failure of the bond between different
layers of the panel leading to delamination, some tiny cracks on the solar cell and frequent changes in
temperature of the module with increasing internal series resistance. The decrease in output power could be
the increase in the series resistance between the modules due to decreased adherence of contacts or
corrosion caused by water vapor. When a degradation fault appears, the MPP current and voltage of the PV
array are reduced. The short-circuit current and the open-circuit voltage of the PV array remain unchanged

3.6. Bypass Diode Fault

A bypass diode is usually connected in parallel across multiple cells to improve the operation of the solar
system under the nonuniform condition. Bypass diode can fail due to lightning strikes or thermal runaway
from frequent operation [10,12]. The recent study showed simulation results that damaged bypass diodes
by lightning strikes to lead reverse current flowed from normal string to the failed string, which generates
heat and burns out. [11,12]. Furthermore, bypass diodes can deteriorate due to the high temperature of
thermal runaway by rapid transitioning from forwarding bias state to reverse bias [12,13,14]. In this regard,
there is a study that released which changes in the electrical property at PV module caused by a failure of
the bypass diode (shown as F6 in Figure 2). The failure bypass diodes lose their properties of forward and
reverse bias to become a micro-resistance, and are in a short circuit state with solar cells that are connected
to a fault bypass diode [12,15,16]. Furthermore, recent research reported, when the bypass diode is shorted
failure while the PV system is stopped, the temperature of a junction box increases [12]. These mismatch
factors change Maximum Power Point (MPP) of PV modules or strings bringing about the system output
loss on the PV system. Even if only one full module is shorted by bypass diode, the maximum power and
Uoc of the PV array drops significantly and short-circuit current remains the same as other normal strings.

4. PV ARRAY CONFIGURATION FOR VAIDATION

The first step of this research was to experimentally validate the electric model of a PV array. The
configuration structure of the PV array and fault types set in Figure 3. P-U curve of the array was measured
under different fault conditions in order to validate the model.

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(a) (b)

Figure 3. Circuit diagram of the PV system for validation. (a) open-circuit and short-circuit fault and grounding fault (b) partial
shading degradation fault and bypass diode fault

The 20W solar panels was connected two in series in one string and two strings in parallel. The output of
the PV array with Uoc = 42.6 V and Isc = 2.41A was measured. The array was connected to a variable load
to obtain the U-I values measuring the voltage and current with a digital multimeter, MAXWELL MX-25
328. Eight 500 W R-500WFEH Halogen Floodlight lamps were used to simulate solar radiation, and
radiation was measured 800 W/m2 with a PCE-SPM 1 Solar Power Meter. The related parameters of each
PV panel under STC (𝐺 = 800 W/m2 and 𝑇 = 25 ∘C) are 𝑃mpp = 20 W, Umpp = 17.49 V, 𝐼mpp = 1.14 A, 𝑁𝑠 =
36, 𝑉oc = 21.67 V, and 𝐼sc = 1.22 A and 𝐶𝑇 = −0.33%/ ∘C.

Figure 4. Measured PV array for validation

Figure 4. shows a photo of the PV array used in the lab to measure the U-I curve in order to validate the
electric model. The electric model was validated using Matlab and Simulink, comparing the U-I curve
obtained experimentally to the output characteristic curves generated by the model. The output
characteristic curves of the PV array under fault types set are shown in Figure 5.

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(a) (b)

Figure 5. The output characteristic curves of the PV array under common fault conditions. (a) power-voltage curves (b) current-
voltage curves.

5. INTERPRETATION AND SIMULATION OF THE MOST COMMON FAULTS

After the validating, a typical solar PV array with 6×5 PV modules is simulated. Figure 6 show the model
for PV modules in MATLAB/Simulink. 6 modules in series per string and 5 strings in parallel. Using the
widely used one-diode model for each individual solar panel, this paper builds simulation PV array (2.4
kW) in MATLAB/Simulink consisting of 6×5 PV panels that is capable of studying faults among panels.
The related parameters of each PV panel under STC (𝐺 = 1000 W/m2 and 𝑇 = 25 ∘C) are 𝑃mpp = 80 W, 𝑉mpp
= 17.7 V, 𝐼mpp = 4.52 A, 𝑁𝑠 = 36, 𝑉oc = 21.9 V, and 𝐼sc = 5 A and 𝐶𝑇 = −0.32%/ ∘C. MATLAB/Simulink
models of PV array (Figure 6) under electrical faults are developed to study the performance of the faulted
PV array.

Figure 6. Schematic diagram of a PV farm system with 6×5 modules

This research studies six common fault types in 12 cases and compared the results with the normal
condition. The characteristics of the PV panel with different types of faults are shown in Figures 7–12.

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Figure 7. The PV array configuration for Open circuit fault

Figure 8. The PV array configuration for Line to line fault

Figure 9. The PV array configuration for Grounding fault

Figure 10. The PV array configuration for Partial shading

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Figure 11. The PV array configuration for Degradation fault

Figure 12. The PV array configuration for Bypass diode fault

7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

When different faults appear in a PV array, the output characteristic of PV array are very different in many
cases. Electric faults in PV arrays can generate a local and global maximum point in the P-U curve at the
output of the array. In this paper, a comprehensive definition of faults in DC side of PV system based on
location and structure is presented. The performance of a typical PV array has been examined under typical
fault conditions such as open-circuit fault, line-to-line fault, grounding fault, shading condition,
degradation fault, bypass diode fault. To better visualize the P-U data under normal and fault conditions,
the U-I and 𝑃-U characteristics of the array have been evaluated. Simulation experimental results show both
normal operational curves and fault curves.

8. CONCLUSIONS

The off-line method used in this research can make difference many types of faults but cannot detect the
location of the fault within the PV array. It would be useful to develop special MPPT schemes to track the
maximum peak under these conditions and further methods capable of determining these locations. In a
future work, the characterization method can be implemented inside an algorithm to detect and classify
these common faults in a photovoltaic array system by only measuring the voltage and the current at the
output of a photovoltaic array to obtain the P-U curve.
But a more accurate result can be obtained by measuring the current and voltage of each string, because
this gives a more accurate picture of the exact location of the faults. In order to design an algorithm based
on the characterization method, it is important to measure the temperature of the PV modules, solar
radiation and the VP curve at the output of an array fast enough (<1s) to prevent significant solar radiation
variations.

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