Temperature Measurement of Photovoltaic Modules Using Non-Contact Infrared System

Abstract

This paper presents temperature measurement of solar photovoltaic modules using the custom-made system composed of an infrared temperature sensor and a microcontroller. The obtained measurement results are processed, displayed and stored on a PC using the custom-made virtual instrument. The proposed system overcomes some of the problems related to the contact sensor application, and at the same time offers accurate readings and better flexibility. The proposed system is especially suitable for applications where the cost is a limiting factor in the choice of measuring system. The conducted analysis and the obtained results have shown an excellent accuracy of the proposed system in comparison to a high quality thermal imaging camera used as the reference instrument.