Electrical pathway intermittent fault detection
AssigneeSunPower Corporation
InventorsKatherine Han, Jack Stewart, Hai-Yue Han
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Testing to detect intermittent electrical pathways is described. Applied currents may be reversed to fully test all components of a workpiece. Various testing methodologies may be employed. These methodologies may include Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), mechanical agitation, dark current/voltage testing, (dark IV), i.e., electrical testing of a workpiece using applied electricity, and thermographic imaging, e.g., infra-red thermal imaging. The sensed voltage during agitation may be compared to a benchmark voltage to determine whether or not an intermittent failure exists.
Claims21
1-20. (canceled)
A method of testing an electrical pathway of a photovoltaic laminate comprising:
- applying a monitoring current in a forward bias direction to a first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection between photovoltaic cells and measuring observed voltage at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection;
- applying the monitoring current in a reverse bias direction to the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection between the photovoltaic cells and measuring observed voltage at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection;
- comparing measured observed voltage in the forward bias direction with applied current in the forward bias direction;
- and comparing measured observed voltage in the reverse bias direction with applied current in the reverse bias direction and, based on each comparison, determining if a diode failure is present at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection.
A method of testing an electrical pathway of a photovoltaic laminate comprising:
- applying a monitoring current in a forward bias direction to a first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection between photovoltaic cells at a first frequency and sampling observed voltage at a second frequency at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode, the second frequency larger than the first frequency;
- applying the monitoring current in a reverse bias direction to the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode connection between the photovoltaic cells at a third frequency and sampling observed voltage at a fourth frequency at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode, the fourth frequency larger than the third frequency;
- comparing sampled observed voltage in the forward bias direction with applied current in the forward bias direction;
- and comparing sampled observed voltage in the reverse bias direction with applied current in the reverse bias direction and, based on each comparison, determining if a diode failure is present at the first photovoltaic laminate electrical diode.
An electrical pathway intermittent fault detection device comprising:
- an electrical sensor;
- and
- a microcontroller,
- wherein the microcontroller is configured to apply a forward bias current through an electrical connection of a photovoltaic workpiece for a first period of time and to apply a reverse bias current through the electrical connection of the photovoltaic workpiece for a second period of time, and
- wherein the microcontroller is further configured to consider a frequency of vibration of a mechanical vibration generator applied to the photovoltaic workpiece by the mechanical vibration generator, and further configured to consider voltages sampled from the photovoltaic workpiece, the sampling conducted when the mechanical vibration generator is in contact with the photovoltaic workpiece, the sampling rate of considered voltages being faster than the frequency of vibration of the mechanical vibration generator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.