Parallel fault detection algorithm for grid-connected photovoltaic plants

In this work, we present a new algorithm for detecting faults in grid-connected photovoltaic (GCPV) plant. There are few instances of statistical tools being deployed in the analysis of PV measured data. The main focus of this paper is, therefore, to outline a parallel fault detection algorithm that can diagnose faults on the DC-side and AC-side of the examined GCPV system based on the t-test statistical analysis method. For a given set of operational conditions, solar irradiance and module's temperature, a number of attributes such as voltage and power ratio of the PV strings are measured using virtual instrumentation (VI) LabVIEW software. The results obtained indicate that the parallel fault detection algorithm can detect and locate accurately different types of faults such as, faulty PV module, faulty PV String, Faulty Bypass diode, Faulty Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) unit and Faulty DC/AC inverter unit. The parallel fault detection algorithm has been validated using an experimental data climate, with electrical parameters based on a 1.98 and 0.52 kWp PV systems installed at the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom.