PID Outdoor Measurements, a New Test Setup

Potential induced degradation (PID) still occurs on PV modules in the field. Different approaches have been developed to prevent PID, e.g., at cell- or module-level or by avoiding operation conditions which promote PID at the PV-generator-level. In cases where these measures are not possible, or where a replacement of PID sensitive modules would lead to excessive costs, additional apparatuses have been designed, which offer periodic voltage reversal at night to “heal” PID damages from the beginning. The effect was previously demonstrated under ideal laboratory conditions, but outdoor long-time tests have seldom been done [1]. During the research project PID-Recovery, long-term investigations concerning the PID influence on PV-modules have been carried out. The focus of this paper are the measurement setup and test results.