Ingeteam helped with the first inverter-fed electroluminescence (EL) inspection of solar panels on U.S. soil. Ingeteam INGECON SUN 3Power UL C Series inverters were used on Acciona’s 458-MW Red-Tailed Hawk Solar Farm in El Campo, Texas. A total of 18,125 modules from a pre-selected section were inspected using the electroluminescence capabilities of three of Ingeteam’s inverters, requiring just two hours of inspection time per inverter. Quantified Energy (QE) provided a specialized camera, drone, pilot training and the software needed to perform the inspection and analysis of the results.
The Ingeteam testing crew
EL is a phenomenon in which a material emits light when an electrical current is applied to it. An EL inspection involves injecting a current into the panels so that the photovoltaic cells emit infrared light, which is captured by a camera and subsequently analyzed. In this way, micro-cracks and hidden defects at the cellular level are identified, allowing asset owners to evaluate the quality of their solar panels on a highly granular level to streamline warranty and insurance claims. This process is used in laboratories and solar panel factories to determine the health of modules. Ingeteam developed its EL functionality to facilitate these inspections in large utility-scale farms.
Electroluminescence functionality is one of many ways that Ingeteam has leveraged its investment in R&D to design inverters with innovative technologies and set itself apart. By equipping inverters with this feature, Ingeteam helps customers to reduce the necessary time for O&M inspections, with all strings being energized at the same time instead of string-to-string polarization. It also means greater efficiency as only inverter consumption is necessary vs. the need for additional power supplies (DC and AC). Furthermore, it offers a more reliable and safer option because the operator does not have to manipulate string box cables.
The EL inspection process at the Red-Tailed Hawk Solar Farm allowed Acciona to evaluate the health of the solar panels at this site in a precise, efficient and safe manner, and the findings have provided information that will help optimize site performance. While this is the first inspection conducted in the United States, Ingeteam has carried out this type of electroluminescence testing worldwide, reducing the LCOE of the analyzed assets. This technique has already been used to optimize the performance and reliability of solar farms in Spain, Chile, Panama and Australia. Ingeteam inverter-enabled field inspections have achieved a throughput of up to 40,000 modules per night utilizing QE’s technology in some of these projects.
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