Dealing in practice with hot-spots

The hot-spot phenomenon is a relatively frequent problem occurring in current photovoltaic generators. It entails both a risk for the photovoltaic module’s lifetime and a decrease in its operational efficiency. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of widely accepted procedures for dealing with them in practice. This paper presents the IES-UPM observations on 200 affected modules. Visual and infrared inspection, electroluminescence, peak power and operating voltage tests have been accomplished. Hot-spot observation procedures and well defined acceptance and rejection criteria are proposed, addressing both the lifetime and the operational efficiency of the modules. The operating voltage has come out as the best parameter to control effective efficiency losses for the affected modules. This procedure is oriented to its possible application in contractual frameworks.