• Journal of the Korean Society of Surveying, Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.619-627
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• 2016

Cells of a PV (photovoltaic) module can suffer defects due to various causes resulting in a loss of power output. As a malfunctioning cell has a higher temperature than adjacent normal cells, it can be easily detected with a thermal infrared sensor. A conventional method of PV cell inspection is to use a hand-held infrared sensor for visual inspection. The main disadvantages of this method, when applied to a large-scale PV power plant, are that it is time-consuming and costly. This paper presents an algorithm for automatically detecting defective PV panels using images captured with a thermal imaging camera from an UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). The proposed algorithm uses statistical analysis of thermal intensity (surface temperature) characteristics of each PV module to verify the mean intensity and standard deviation of each panel as parameters for fault diagnosis. One of the characteristics of thermal infrared imaging is that the larger the distance between sensor and target, the lower the measured temperature of the object. Consequently, a global detection rule using the mean intensity of all panels in the fault detection algorithm is not applicable. Therefore, a local detection rule was applied to automatically detect defective panels using the mean intensity and standard deviation range of each panel by array. The performance of the proposed algorithm was tested on three sample images; this verified a detection accuracy of defective panels of 97% or higher. In addition, as the proposed algorithm can adjust the range of threshold values for judging malfunction at the array level, the local detection rule is considered better suited for highly sensitive fault detection compared to a global detection rule. In this study, we used a panel area extraction method that we previously developed; fault detection accuracy would be improved if panel area extraction from images was more precise. Furthermore, the proposed algorithm contributes to the development of a maintenance and repair system for large-scale PV power plants, in combination with a geo-referencing algorithm for accurate determination of panel locations using sensor-based orientation parameters and photogrammetry from ground control points.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.222-231
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• 2017

In this paper, a new architecture for a cost-effective power conditioning systems (PCS) using a single-sourced asymmetric cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (MLI) for photovoltaic (PV) applications is proposed. The asymmetric MLI topology has a reduced number of parts compared to the symmetrical type for the same number of voltage level. However, the modulation index threshold related to the drop in the number of levels of the inverter output is higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. This problem results in a modulation index limitation which is relatively higher than that of the symmetrical MLI. Hence, an extra voltage pre-regulator becomes a necessary component in the PCS under a wide operating bias variation. In addition to pre-stage voltage regulation for the constant MLI dc-links, another auxiliary pre-regulator should provide isolation and voltage balance among the multiple H-bridge cells in the asymmetrical MLI as well as the symmetrical ones. The proposed PCS uses a single-ended DC-DC converter topology with a coupled inductor and charge-pump circuit to satisfy all of the aforementioned requirements. Since the proposed integrated-type voltage pre-regulator circuit uses only a single MOSFET switch and a single magnetic component, the size and cost of the PCS is an optimal trade-off. In addition, the voltage balance between the separate H-bridge cells is automatically maintained by the number of turns in the coupled inductor transformer regardless of the duty cycle, which eliminates the need for an extra voltage regulator for the auxiliary H-bridge in MLIs. The voltage balance is also maintained under the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). Thus, the PCS is also operational during light load conditions. The proposed architecture can apply the module-integrated converter (MIC) concept to perform distributed MPPT. The proposed architecture is analyzed and verified for a 7-level asymmetric MLI, using simulation results and a hardware implementation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of IIIuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.411-414
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• 2008

In this paper a novel tracking system is described, regarding the influence of shadow between array, aimed at improving the efficiency of PV tracking system. The loss by influence of those shadow can be compensated for by means of control algorithm of the tracking device. The paper suggests a method controlling an altitude for length which is received the shadow influence of PV array. By using an azimuth of current solar position and the length between arrays, the controller of tracking device is able to calculate the length between actual arrays and make a comparison of the shadow length at a specific time with the length between arrays. In the paper, we develop the control algorithm able to minimize the loss caused by the influence of shadow on the PV tracking system, and compared this with conventional output system. The controller has been tested in the laboratory with proposed algorithm and shows excellent performance

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.07b
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• pp.1181-1182
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• 2006

The solar power system comprises a solar battery that directly converts light energy to electrical energy with a photovoltaic effect and a power converter system, that is, inverter that converts direct current power, which is generated from solar battery to common alternating current. In this paper, database was constituted through remote monitoring supervision measurement for the long-time positive operation of 3kW solar power system installed within the solar energy positive research complex of Chosun University. As a result of analyzing the reduction of the efficiency of solar battery and inverter that are compositional components of PV system through an analysis on the acquired data, the PV output was proven over 65% of the total output when insolation intensity exceeded 600W/m2 in 2005, and the array conversion efficiency dropped much more than rating; meanwhile, insolation intensity dropped below 600W/m2. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that approximately 35% of the entire amount of PV output operated under the condition that the inverter efficiency rate dropped rapidly by 60 to 70%.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.27-33
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• 2005

To improve the performance of the top-positioning space in buildings, we suggested the environment-friendly system integrating various design techniques in the previous paper. This work discussed to calculate the length of PV considering a part of metallic radiators for radiative cooling, an critical element of the whole system, for shading not to prevent the PV on roof from generating electricity. In the process of calculating the shading area, we used the geometrical relationship between the sun-rays and the variable roof. For general applications, we utilized DL, the ratio of the length of PV and that of metallic radiator on roof, as a design factor, and then used the maximum insolation and the specific insolation($200W/m^2$) to decide the distance off the axis of rotation. As a result, for DL, we found out the reasonable value of 1.0 with full covering, 1.2 with 90%, and 2.0 with 70% in PV covering.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.239-250
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• 2011

A photovoltaic powered ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis system was tested with a number of natural groundwaters in Australia. The objective of this study was to compare system performance at six remote field locations by assessing the impact of water composition and fluctuating energy on inorganic contaminant removal using a BW30-4040 membrane. Solar irradiance directly affected pressure and flow. Groundwater characteristics (including TDS, salts, heavy metals, and pH), impacted other performance parameters such as retention, specific energy consumption and flux. During continual system operation, retention of ions such as $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ was high (> 95%) with each groundwater which can be attributed to steric exclusion. The retention of smaller ions such as $NO_3{^-}$ was affected by weather conditions and groundwater composition, as convection/diffusion dominate retention. When solar irradiance was insufficient or fluctuations too great for system operation, performance deteriorated and retention dropped significantly (< 30% at Ti Tree). Groundwater pH affected flux and retention of smaller ions ($NO_3{^-}$ and $F^-$) because charge repulsion increases with pH. The results highlight variations in system performance (ion retention, flux, specific energy consumption) with real solar irradiance, groundwater composition, and pH conditions.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.477-484
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• 2013

This paper proposes a novel switching method of active clamp snubber for efficiency improvement of PV module integrated converter(MIC) system. Recently, MIC solar system is researched about the efficiency and safety. PV MIC system is used active clamp method of snubber circuit for the price and reliability of the system. But active clamp snubber circuit has the disadvantage that system efficiency is decreased for switch operating time because of heat loss of resonant between snubber capacitor and leakage inductance. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel switching method of the active clamp. The proposed method is a technique to reduce power consumption by reducing the resonance of the snubber switch operation time and through simulations and experiments proved the validity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Emotion and Sensibility Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.269-272
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• 2009

The temperature of PV modules that integrated into building facades or roof increases that could reduce the electrical efficiency of the PV system. In order to incresae PV system's efficiency it is very important to remove the heat from the PV modules. For this purpose, hot air can be extracted from the space between PV modules and building envelope, and used for heating in buildings. The solar collector utilizing this thermal effect is called photovoltaic-thermal(PVT) solar collector. This paper compares the experimental performance of building-integrated PVT collectors that applied on building roof and facade. There are two different case: a roof-integrated PVT type and a facade-integrated PVT type. The experimental results show that the collected thermal energy of the roof-integrated type was 24% higher, compared to that of the facade-integrated.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.53-62
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• 2006

Since the direct normal radiation and clear day are a main factor for designing any solar thermal and photovoltaic concentrating system, it is necessary to evaluate its characteristics all over the country. The work presented here are the investigation of direct normal radiation and clear day in Korea. The data utilized in the investigation consist of direct normal radiation collected for 14 years('90. 12${\sim}$2004. 12) and clear-day collected for 23 years($1982{\sim}2004$) at measuring stations across the country. The analysis shows that the annual-average daily direct normal radiation is 5.4 kWh/m2 and the annual-average total clear-day is 92.7 days in Korea. We also constructed the contour map of direct normal radiation and clear-day in Korea by interpolating actually measured data across the country.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.577-584
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• 2005

There are many activities involved in promoting renewable energy technologies. These include governments, the renewable energy manufacturing and service industries, energy supply companies, investors, researchers, non-government organizations and customers. For a sustainable renewable energy market, finding a promising industry is essential. The industry has made significant progress in recent years, considering the fact that today's renewable energy market is relatively small. This paper analyses the technology market of renewable energy, focusing on photovoltaic system, fuel cell, wind system. It appears that there has been remarkable progress in renewable energy systems. Besides, developed countries are effectively increasing the share of niche market and promoting renewable energy worldwide.