PV Research at

Northumbria
University:
Putting PV into
Practice

Prof. Nicola Pearsall

Northumbria Photovoltaics Applications Centre (NPAC)
School of Computing, Engineering and Information
Sciences
Northumbria University

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Putting PV into Practice –
Activities at NPAC
• PV cell development
– NPAC works on new semiconductor materials within the
Supergen project
• Transfer of technology to production
– We are involved in environmental impact assessment to assist
in defining the route to sustainable module production with
European industry
• Maximising system performance
– NPAC undertakes system performance analysis and is
currently leading the work on updating the European
monitoring guidelines
• Integrating into a smart electricity grid
– Our power group considers the integration of renewable
energy into the grid distribution network
Solar Flair ‘09
19 November2009
 Putting PV into Practice
• PV cell development
– NPAC works on new semiconductor materials within the
Supergen project
• Transfer of technology to production
– We are involved in environmental impact assessment to assist
in defining the route to sustainable module production with
European industry
• Maximising system performance
– NPAC undertakes system performance analysis and is
currently leading the work on updating the European
monitoring guidelines
• Integrating into a smart electricity grid
– Our power group considers the integration of renewable
energy into the grid distribution network

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Assessing Sustainability in the ATHLET Project

• ATHLET is an EC funded integrated project looking at thin film

photovoltaics (based on silicon and chalcopyrite materials) being
undertaken by a consortium of European research institutes and industries
• NPAC considers the environmental impact of the processes being
developed in this project
• For a renewable energy supply technology, it is important to consider the
balance of energy input to energy output and the emissions arising from
the production process
• We have developed a methodology for applying environmental impact
assessment to help decision making in regard to research directions - this
complements decisions made in regard to potential technical and
economic advances
• We have considered cumulative energy demand, global warming potential,
emission of particulates, acidification potential etc.
• In most cases, the process energy is the dominant source of impacts due
to the assumption of a conventional energy mix

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Assessing Sustainability in the ATHLET Project
Methodology for Environmental Impact Assessment in
Research Planning
• Most published environmental assessments of PV use established
production processes and are carried out for:
– Comparison of the impact of PV with that of other electricity generation
technologies
– Comparison of the impact of different PV module technologies
• Three main differences can be identified when using EIA for research and
development purposes:
– The process may not be fully proven and so the process parameters may vary –
we use ranges of parameters to understand the sensitivity to each parameter
– The scale of the process is small and must be increased to consider production
level – the parameter ranges are selected to be representative of known
production processes
– The balance of the production sequence may not have been previously
assessed - the change in environmental impact assessed as a function of the
change in performance resulting from the new process

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 PV in Practice –
some observations about
use
in the built environment
• PV is an elegant solution for the renewable generation of electricity
within the built environment
• It is technically proven – many systems exist around the world and
are working well
• The challenge is financial, but new UK feed-in tariffs will alter the
situation and make it much more attractive
• From the design viewpoint, it does not require any increase in land
use and only needs minor amendments to building design
• From the user viewpoint, it requires little attention and is not
disruptive in terms of noise or emissions
• Like most renewable technologies, it will need to be used in
conjunction with other energy sources to meet demand fully
• However, we do need to learn how to use it to maximum advantage

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 A Real Example: UK PV Domestic
Field Trial
• The UK Domestic PV Systems Field Trial
(DFT) commenced in 2000 and was funded
by the UK Department of Trade and
Industry

• Undertaken by project teams comprising

house builders, housing associations, PV
companies, electricity companies etc.

• Clusters of 5 – 31 systems on each site,

usually of similar design and so allowing
direct comparisons between systems

• Total of 28 sites and 474 systems, typical

system size 1-2 kWp

• NPAC undertook the performance analysis

for all the systems
Domestic Field Trial Sites
• 15 new build, 12
refurbishment, 1 combined
• Mostly brownfield sites
• Range of house and
apartment type, ownership
(public and private),
module type and
integration method
• Systems were monitored for
two years after installation
to determine performance
and contribution to the
house electricity demand
• Analyses use different data
sets depending on the
quality of the data
• The DFT also considered
buildability, reliability and
maintenance, acceptability
and user satisfaction
Solar Flair ‘09
19 November2009
Measured Annual Yield – 358 systems, 24 sites
(average system size = 1.6 kWp, average daily irradiation = 2.7
kWh/m2)

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
Annual Solar Fraction – 303 systems, 21 sites
(average system size = 1.6 kWp)
Average SF is 50%

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Observed loss mechanisms
• Inverter
– Faults
– Trips due to e.g. voltage spikes
– Threshold
– Periods of outage due to high grid voltage
– Failure to restart after deliberate shutdown
• Array temperature
– due to poor ventilation of the modules
• Shading
– Trees and other vegetation (often characterised by
increasing effect year on year)
– Nearby buildings
– Self-shading (i.e. by part of the same building)

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
Example of Inverter Drop-out
The System Deployment Challenge
• Technologists develop
new PV cells
• Increase efficiency,
reduce materials
usage, reduce cost
• Transfer technology to
module production
• Fabricate and
measure under
controlled conditions
SYSTEM DESIGNER

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 The System Deployment Challenge
• The system designer
selects the location, the
components and the
installation methods
• Losses are minimised
within the constraints of
W/m the application
2
? • The output is predicted
p ?
/ k W over the lifetime of the
h
kW system
Sh USER
a d in
g?

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 The System Deployment Challenge
• The Users
• Want an easy, high
output, low effort
system
• Are not expert in
solar systems and
how they operate
• Now, the
professionals are
no longer in
control!
Solar Flair ‘09
19 November2009
 Maximising Operational Performance
• PV is a very reliable technology but any problems that do occur are
often observed in operation rather than at installation
• Need engagement of users to be able to identify losses and rectify
them rapidly
• User needs to understand how issues such as shading can develop
during the system lifetime
• NPAC is currently involved in the European project PERFORMANCE and
leading the study of monitoring of PV systems over their lifetime so as
to be able to pick up losses that might occur
• The European PV Monitoring Guidelines are being updated to include
lifetime monitoring and state-of-the-art monitoring and analysis
procedures
• Customised guidelines will be available for each user category

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Establishing Probability of Loss
• Long term monitoring (measurement and analysis) can
be considered as an “insurance” against substantial
losses in energy output due to system faults
• The amount of money spent on monitoring should be
proportional to the potential loss that may be incurred if
there is no monitoring
• The potential loss is related to the probability of
particular failure modes as a function of time, system
type, system size etc.
• We carried out a Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) for
the monitoring process to establish which faults are the
most important and how to identify them
• Experts from industry and academia with direct field
experience were consulted for this process

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Monitoring Guidelines Delivery Approach
• Setting the guidelines: The measurement and analysis requirements have
been considered for a wide range of users, based on field experience of
typical loss mechanisms

• Preparing the puzzle: The requirements are turned into sets of axioms for PV
monitoring (based on existing JRC Guidelines and IEC 61724 standard but
modified and added to according to the project results)

• Preparing the identification interface: A set of key questions has been

defined – the user questionnaire – to allow the user category to be defined

• Selection rule - Guidelines ‘genetic code’: A string of numbers is produced

according to the answers to the questionnaire. Each axiom has a pre-
defined code/string and is selected as appropriate to make up the final
guidelines

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Performance Analysis
• The new guidelines also include an extended section on
analysis of the monitoring data
• For example, there is guidance on using comparison
between parts of the system or between similar systems to
identify when and where you have a problem
• Most of the analysis for grid connected systems is based on
the performance ratio which allows us to set a target value
• For stand alone systems, there are some new approaches
involving the battery index (relating to how much of the
time the battery is fully charged)
• It is important to have rapid and consistent fault diagnosis
and that it is as informative in regard to severity, location
and cause as possible

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 22:00:00
Example of Analysis 20:00:00
Method 18:00:00 80-90
16:00:00 70-80
60-70
Performance ratio contour 14:00:00
50-60
plot for UK domestic system 12:00:00 40-50
using crystalline silicon 10:00:00 30-40
modules 20-30
08:00:00 10-20
06:00:00 0-10
PR is reduced for lower light 04:00:00
levels and part-loading of the
02:00:00
inverter
00:00:00

November
September
January

March

May

July
System is operating as
expected – possible
improvement of winter
performance using different
inverter configuration
Solar Flair ‘09
19 November2009
 22:00:00

20:00:00

Example of Analysis 18:00:00 80-90

Method 16:00:00 70-80

60-70
(cont.) 14:00:00
50-60
12:00:00 40-50
Performance ratio contour plot for 30-40
10:00:00
UK domestic system with output 20-30
reduction in summer months 08:00:00 10-20
06:00:00 0-10
Clear performance problems –
04:00:00
timing pattern gives some clues
as to the cause but further 02:00:00
investigation needed 00:00:00

November
May

September
January

March

July

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009
 Summary
• NPAC is working on both PV device development and the
issues that arise from putting PV into practice
• This has been illustrated with examples of three projects,
either ongoing or recently completed
• As new technology is developed, we will need to address
how it can be used in practice and make sure that the
maximum benefit is gained in both energy and
environmental terms

Contact:
nicola.pearsall@northumbria.ac.uk

Solar Flair ‘09

19 November2009