IR Thermal Image Analysis: An Efficient Algorithm for Accurate Hot-Spot Fault Detection and Localization in Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Solar energy has proven to be an undisputed frontrunner among renewable energy sources: it is clean, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective. Current methods for fault detection and localization in PV arrays, however, are largely inefficient and labor intensive. In this paper we have developed an efficient technique using IR Thermal Energy Analysis to detect and localize hot-spot faults. Infrared rays are used to produce sequential...