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Investigating PV Module Far-Field Radiation: A Measurement and Circuit-CEM Hybrid Modelling Approach

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Version 2 2023-12-02, 20:30
Version 1 2023-11-13, 16:18
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posted on 2023-12-02, 20:30 authored by Kurt CoetzerKurt Coetzer, Pieter Gideon Wiid, Arnold Rix

Lightning-produced electromagnetic fields can couple into photovoltaic (PV) installations and cause damage. This study examines the far-field radiation patterns of a small and a large PV module between 9 kHz and 30 MHz – by both measurement and simulation. Due to reciprocity, these are also the susceptibility patterns. Firstly, the radiation patterns of each PV module are measured using a vector network analyser and a receiving loop antenna at multiple positions. Secondly, the radiation patterns of each PV module are computed using a novel circuit-computational electromagnetic hybrid methodology. This methodology is applied to two literature-based models, as well as four recently-proposed PV module models. Postprocessing is applied to both the measured and simulated results to produce the realized gain in each case - allowing fair comparisons to be made. The measured gain results over the full frequency range are then presented. The small PV module shows low levels of gain, peaking at -32.5 dB at 30 MHz, whilst the large PV module shows much higher levels of gain, peaking at -16.9 dB at 10.5 MHz. Following this, the measured and simulated radiation patterns are compared at the frequencies where maximum gain occurs. The small PV module exhibits directional radiation characteristics, whereas the large PV module shows omnidirectional operation – one of many novel findings produced by this study.

History

Email Address of Submitting Author

kmcoetzer@gmail.com

ORCID of Submitting Author

0000-0003-0574-0721

Submitting Author's Institution

Stellenbosch University

Submitting Author's Country

  • South Africa

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