Thermal Behavior of Photovoltaic Modules Under Dirty and Different Shading Profiles

The energy efficiency of Photovoltaic (PV) systems is strongly linked to both manufacturing factors, such as the nature of the PV cells, and environmental factors (irradiance and temperature). However, during its operation, the PV system is subject to several types of faults that can affect its optimal operation. The soiling and shadowing, which create an inhomogeneous distribution of the incident irradiance on the PV cell or panel, is one of the most commonly encountered PV faults that leads to an overall degradation of the energy produced by this panel. The main objective of this paper is to study the thermal impact of the shadowing on the PV panels. For this, two types of shading have been created artificially: the first is the covering (total and partial) of the panel, and the second is the shading using a nearby opaque object. Thermal images were taken using the Fluke Ti25 IR thermal camera. The obtained results show the generation of hotspots on the shaded panel and a remarkable decrease in power produced.