Title: Methods and systems for determining soiling on photovoltaic devices

Abstract

An aspect of the present disclosure relates to radiating light on to a front surface of a glass pane comprising a first surface and a second surface defining a thickness between the first surface and the second surface, wherein the first surface is substantially parallel to the second surface; detecting a transmittance of the light through the glass pane; comparing the transmittance through the glass pane to a reference transmittance value corresponding to a clean reference glass pane; and determining, using the transmittance and the reference transmittance, a soiling metric of a photovoltaic module.

Inventors:

Fernandez, Eduardo F.; Muller, Matthew Thomas; Micheli, Leonardo; Cruz, Florencia Marina Almonacid

Issue Date:

2020-08-04

Research Org.:

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1735118

Patent Number(s):

10734946

Application Number:

16/376,547

Assignee:

Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (Golden, CO); Universidad de Jaen (Jaen, ES)

Patent Classifications (CPCs):

Y - NEW / CROSS SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Y02 - TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

H - ELECTRICITY H02 - GENERATION H02S - GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRA-RED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES

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Y - NEW / CROSS SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Y02 - TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE Y02E - REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

Y02E10/50 - Photovoltaic [PV] energy

H - ELECTRICITY H02 - GENERATION H02S - GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRA-RED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES

H02S50/00 - Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification

G - PHYSICS G01 - MEASURING G01N - INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

G01N21/958 - Inspecting transparent materials {or objects, e.g. windscreens
G01N2021/945 - {Liquid or solid deposits of macroscopic size on surfaces, e.g. drops, films, or clustered contaminants
G01N21/94 - Investigating contamination, e.g. dust

H - ELECTRICITY H02 - GENERATION H02S - GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRA-RED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES

H02S50/15 - using optical means, e.g. using electroluminescence

G - PHYSICS G01 - MEASURING G01N - INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

G01N21/9501 - {Semiconductor wafers

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DOE Contract Number:  

AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:

Patent

Resource Relation:

Patent File Date: 04/05/2019

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English