Power plant products | A second life for solar modules
The RENEW project marks the launch of research into the repair and re-use of photovoltaic modules by Germany’s Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and its partners. The three-year project is being funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Its goal is more effective testing with high throughput of used PV modules and to develop new repair options in order to reduce the quantity of discarded modules. The project partners believe they are defining new standards for characterising used PV modules, thus opening up a high utilisation potential. Alongside the ZSW, the companies involved are 2nd Life Solar, HaWe Engineering and ELMED. RENEW is the German acronym for the repair (“Reparatur”) and reuse (“Wiederverwendung”) of PV modules. A glimpse into the future suggests that global PV expansion targets will not only require a constant supply of new modules, but also that these be kept in operation for as long as possible, thus increasing sustainability and reducing PV electricity costs.
Thanks to the rapid technological development of module technology in the last decade alone, new modules are attractive to power plant operators for economic reasons owing to their higher output over the same surface area.
Repowering involves dismantling old modules, even though they may still be operational, and replacing them with new, more powerful modules. Extensive experience with field- aged modules at ZSW’s Solab solar laboratory reveals that even after more than two decades of operation, the majority of modules exhibit almost no performance degradation, particularly at sites with a temperate climate, as found in Central Europe. According to the experience of project partner 2nd Life Solar, around 70 % of all discarded modules remain directly operational. In order to improve these numbers even more, the project is also assessing a variety of additional repair solutions.
It turns out that the sheer volume of waste modules is leading, potentially, to problems with unchecked electrical waste, another reason the ZSW research team is placing its focus on the circular economy model. Before a module is recycled, its functionality is checked before it is then reused directly.
The longevity of PV modules, as well as their repair and test capacity after years of use, are the building blocks for future use. It seems the market for used modules is rapidly expanding because of the ambitious expansion targets for photovoltaics. ZSW believes this means that every module – whether new or used – should
remain in operation until the end of its service life.
One project partner that is already conducting quality checks on used photovoltaic modules and reselling field-aged modules after extensive testing is 2nd Life Solar. The company intends to further expand its concept in order to meet growing demand.
In order to optimise tests, the project team is working with ELMED which specialises in testing equipment from the coatings industry and can therefore conduct tests with minimal material stress on the coating. HaWe Engineering GmbH will apply the project results in various PV systems in a field study in order to facilitate qualification of used modules on site. Project co-ordinator of RENEW is the ZSW. Its Solab solar laboratory boasts extensive experience with field-aged modules. The tests carried out at ZSW involve the degradation of PV modules, backsheet analysis and material analysis. The project team also draws on the results of a preceding project: analyses of damaged backsheets at the end of the project culminated in a comprehensive list of criteria for evaluating module defects. RENEW will enable the ZSW to enhance the quality of testing old modules and make it scalable – and thus make PV module use more sustainable.
New drone autopilot for greater image quality
Sulzer Schmid, a Swiss company that uses UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology for wind rotor blade inspection, has announced the introduction of its latest 3DX AutoPilot upgraded with a new image capturing system, to ensure ‘crystal clear inspection results’. Mounted on DJI’s latest Matrice M350 Enterprise drone, the 3DX Autopilot payload provides up to 61 MP resolution images and introduces a precise adaptive focus and optimised exposure settings for each image, allowing the drone to be positioned very close to the blade.
Engineers at Sulzer Schmid have been
working to improve image quality with the aim to deliver the best image quality on the market. Addressing the challenge of automated camera settings, which can sometimes cause blurred images, the new AutoPilot ‘sets a new standard for inspection data’. ISO settings, aperture, and shutter speed are individually set for each image to ensure the perfect exposure even when zoomed in. As a result, image quality is superior in terms of sharpness, image density, dynamic range, and exposure accuracy, making it easier to identify and classify damages correctly.
With the new technology damaged areas
are identified with greater precision. The risk of missing a damage site or wrongly interpreting inspection data is therefore greatly reduced. For example, capturing hairline cracks, which can be a sign of serious damage, are easier to detect at an early stage.
Tom Sulzer, Sulzer Schmid Co-founder and CEO, stated: “This is not just an upgrade; it’s a revolution in precision and in the way we approach blade inspections – a fast and reliable inspection process, best-in-class image quality and powerful analytics capabilities, all wrapped up in an intuitive digital inspection platform boosted by AI and machine learning.”
46 | November/December 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
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