Hot Spots Detection of Operating PV Arrays through IR Thermal Image Using Method Based on Curve Fitting of Gray Histogram

Abstract

The overall efficiency of PV arrays is affected by hot spots which should be detected and diagnosed by applying responsible monitoring techniques. The method using the IR thermal image to detect hot spots has been studied as a direct, noncontact, nondestructive technique. However, IR thermal images suffer from relatively high stochastic noise and non-uniformity clutter, so the conventional methods of image processing are not effective. The paper proposes a method to detect hotspots based on curve fitting of gray histogram. The result of MATLAB simulation proves the method proposed in the paper is effective to detect the hot spots suppressing the noise generated during the process of image acquisition.