Automatic Detection and Evaluation of Solar Cell Micro-Cracks in Electroluminescence Images Using Matched Filters

Peter Hacke, Sergiu Spataru, Dezso Sera

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

39 Scopus Citations

Abstract

A method for detecting micro-cracks in solar cells using two dimensional matched filters was developed, derived from the electroluminescence intensity profile of typical micro-cracks. We describe the image processing steps to obtain a binary map with the location of the micro-cracks. Finally, we show how to automatically estimate the total length of each micro-crack from these maps, and propose a method to identify severe types of micro-cracks, such as parallel, dendritic, and cracks with multiple orientations. With an optimized threshold parameter, the technique detects over 90 % of cracks larger than 3 cm in length. The method shows great potential for quantifying micro-crack damage after manufacturing or module transportation for the determination of a module quality criterion for cell cracking in photovoltaic modules.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages1602-1607
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 18 Nov 2016
Event43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 - Portland, United States
Duration: 5 Jun 201610 Jun 2016

Conference

Conference43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPortland
Period5/06/1610/06/16

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/CP-5J00-65814

Keywords

  • crystalline silicon
  • detection
  • electroluminescence
  • matched filters
  • micro-crack
  • photovoltaic cells

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