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Contactless Estimation of a Solar Cell Voltage in a Module Using Modulated Light and a Phase Detector
Author(s) -
KOBAYASHI YASUYUKI,
KIKUMOTO DAICHI
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
electrical engineering in japan
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.136
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1520-6416
pISSN - 0424-7760
DOI - 10.1002/eej.23092
Subject(s) - voltage , detector , signal (programming language) , solar cell , phase (matter) , materials science , optoelectronics , phase detector , cell voltage , electronic engineering , physics , optics , computer science , electrical engineering , engineering , electrode , anode , quantum mechanics , programming language
SUMMARY As a solar cell connected in series in a solar module fails, the operating module current decreases, however the operating voltage of each cell is not measurable if the cells are sealed tightly in the module. This research proposes a method to estimate an operating cell voltage in a module by irradiating modulated light to the cell and detecting the modulated signal from a load resistance of the module by a phase detector. And experiments for a small scale module to confirm the method have showed that the modulated signal detected by the phase detector increases as an operating cell voltage decreases, as expected according to the proposed theory. Therefore, it is confirmed in principle that the proposed method can estimate an operating cell voltage in a module.