The solar module manufacturing industry is at a critical stage in India. The modules are being produced using different methodology and have changed significantly in the past few years mainly due to the rapid change in the quality of raw materials and technology.
One of the major concerns in the Indian solar manufacturing industry is the lack of quality standards with each manufacturer following their own module design. There is very little or no industry design standardization that is followed.
Testing is one of the most important steps in solar PV panel installation. Some of the key activities involved are:
- Checking the insulation resistance of conductors to ensure that there is no leakage. The conductors are exposed to extreme weather conditions leading to deterioration in their performance and insulation which will have a long-term impact on the performance with the plant being expected to last for 25 years. This makes it very critical to periodically record the resistance value from the beginning and track it continually over the course of the plant’s life.
- The testing at the module level is done by measuring the open-circuit voltage of each of these strings. The test helps in obtaining a similar voltage among all the strings by identifying that all the strings have a similar number of modules with the right combination of polarity.
- The testing of the inverter is very critical. It is performed by checking and testing all the AC & DC interconnections along with conductors and modules. Before energizing the inverter the grid side transformer is energized keeping the inverter and module at an isolated stage. This process is done to ensure the transformer generates ingress current to avoid problems related to its further operations. In the further days, the entire plant is energized and the current along with the frequency of the output voltage is continuously monitored. This process helps in checking and monitoring inverter tripping and ground faults in the plants.