String fault finding on the single axis tracker photovoltaic plant

Abstract

South Africa has embarked on a journey of increasing renewable energy installations such as solar Photovoltaic (PV) and wind plants mostly in coastal areas. The South African Government has introduced the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) to ensure a smooth facilitation of a private sector investment into grid-connected renewable energy (RE) generation in South Africa. As a result, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has a programme called the Energy Autonomous Campus (EAC) which aims to supply the Pretoria main campus with energy from wind, biogas and solar PV. The first solar PV plant was installed in 2015, connecting 558 kW DC on single axis trackers to the CSIR reticulation. Since that time, the plant has been struck by lightning twice. This paper will demonstrate the diagnostic techniques used to perform string fault finding on the single axis tracker solar PV plant in 2019. The results before, during and after fault finding will be discussed as well as the overall lesson learned during the fault finding process.