Photovoltaic modules self testing using M3S in an outdoor system

Abstract

The first results of the Module to Module Monitoring System (M3S) in an outdoor PV system are presented. M3S is able to take partial measurements of the I-V characteristic of a PV module without power electronics and with small capacitors, in the order of tens of microfarads. The measurements are performed without disconnecting the PV module from the rest of the system. The entire measurements are done in less than 5 ms. These short times add an hysteresis effect to the measurements, due to PV modules internal capacitance. In this work an algorithm is implemented to correct the hysteresis effect from the measurements and the I-V characteristic of the module and its parameters are estimated.