Field Performance of PV Modules Quality Control Process

In the current photovoltaic market, the importance of module quality control process is growing although its implementation in large size plants is not evident and it can also produces delays in the setting up of the power plant. In this article, the authors describe a simple module testing process aimed to be applied in the field. It allows more than 1MW per day testing rate and a repeatability better than 1,5%. The process has been tested in the facilities of the Instituto de Energia Solar of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, and it has been applied in the field in a 12 MW photovoltaic plant in Spain. The results show different values from what was expected if attending to manufacturer data, in particular a higher dispersion in power values. This make the authors think that classifying the modules on the basis of their flash-report power has no relevance.