Design of fault-tolerant circuits for photovoltaic concentrators
A methodology for fault-tolerant design of photovoltaic concentrator module and array circuitry presented. Results are provided in the form of example analyses and a complete set of curves giving array power loss versus fraction of open-circuit failures for a broad variety of series-parallel configurations with bypass diodes. Specific curves are provided for single, four, eight, and sixteen-parallel-string source circuits with varying bypass diode frequencies. An example case is presented in a step-by-step fashion to assist the module or array designer in using the above mentioned curves to calculate expected power loss for other concentrator designs. Optimum circuit configurations must also reflect the costs of incorporating circuit redundancy features and the life-cycle tradeoffs associated with repair and replacement of failed modules. To this end, module replacement strategies are also investigated based on a set of projected module and array costs. The results highlight circuit design configurations and module replacement strategies that maximize the array benefit to cost ratio. 7 refs.; 17 figs.; 2 tabs.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 6816463
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-88-7027; ON: DE89001062
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
42 ENGINEERING
CONCENTRATOR SOLAR CELLS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
DESIGN
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
EFFICIENCY
FAULT TOLERANT COMPUTERS
NUMERICAL DATA
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC CONVERSION
COMPUTERS
CONVERSION
DATA
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ENERGY CONVERSION
EQUIPMENT
INFORMATION
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion
420800 - Engineering- Electronic Circuits & Devices- (-1989)