Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Thermal Characteristics of Microinverters on Dual-axis Trackers

Hossain, Mohammad Akram

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, EMC - Mechanical Engineering.
The thermal characteristics of microinverters on dual-axis trackers operating under real-world conditions were analyzed using a statistical analytical approach. 24 microinverters connected to 8 different brands of photovoltaic (PV) modules were analyzed from July through October 2013 at the Solar Durability and Lifetime Extension (SDLE) SunFarm at Case Western Reserve University (latitude 41.50, longitude -81.640). Exploratory data analysis shows that the microinverters’ temperature is strongly correlated with ambient temperature and PV module temperature, and moderately correlated with irradiance and AC power. Ambient temperature is the influencing factor under conditions of low irradiance in morning hours, when the irradiance is below 60W/m2. Noontime data analysis reveals that the microinverters thermal behavior is more strongly influenced by PV module temperature than AC power. Using a Euclidean distance measuring principle and average linkage criteria, a hierarchical clustering technique was also applied to noontime microinverter temperature data to group the similarly behaved microinverters. Microinverter temperature clustering shows that the clustering groups are more strongly influenced by PV module temperature than AC power. A linear regression model was developed to predict the temperature of the microinverters connected to different brands PV modules. The predictive model is a function of ambient temperature, PV module temperature, irradiance, AC power data, and the interaction between power, irradiance and module temperature. The difference between actual microinverter and predicted microinverter temperature lies between 0.40C to 1.60C at a 95% confidence interval.
Alexis Abramson (Committee Chair)
Roger French (Committee Member)
Joseph Prahl (Committee Member)
Yifan Xu (Committee Member)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hossain, M. A. (2014). Thermal Characteristics of Microinverters on Dual-axis Trackers [Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396888841

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hossain, Mohammad. Thermal Characteristics of Microinverters on Dual-axis Trackers. 2014. Case Western Reserve University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396888841.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hossain, Mohammad. "Thermal Characteristics of Microinverters on Dual-axis Trackers." Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1396888841

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)