Haryanto, Arif Nur Afandi, Triana Widyaningtyas, Miftachul Ulum, Agung Fitrahadi, Mas Ahmad Baihaqi
Microcracks represent one of the most critical defects in photovoltaic (PV) modules, contributing significantly to performance degradation and long-term reliability issues. Although advanced diagnostic techniques such as electroluminescence (EL) and infrared (IR) thermography provide high detection accuracy, their high cost and complex operation limit their application in routine field inspections. This paper presents a practical and low-cost approach to microcrack detection through visual inspection and examines its correlation with electrical performance parameters, including open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (Isc), and maximum power (Pmax). Six monocrystalline PV modules (100 Wp) with over three years of field exposure were analyzed under Standard Test Conditions (STC). The findings show a strong linear correlation between the number of visible microcracks (Ncrack) and efficiency loss (Δη = 1.7215 ⋅ Ncrack +1.6866, R2 = 0.9865). Modules with more than five cracks experienced efficiency losses exceeding 14%, while minor cracks still resulted in approximately 5% performance reduction. These results demonstrate that visual inspection can serve as a reliable preliminary diagnostic tool for field maintenance and performance assessment of PV systems, particularly in resource-limited environments. © 2025 IEEE.
Universitas Negeri Malang, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, Malang, Indonesia; Universitas Negeri Malang, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Informayics, Malang, Indonesia; Universitas Trunojoy Madura, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Bangkalan, Indonesia
