Thermal Study of Inverter Components

N. R. Robert Sorensen, Edward V. Thomas, Michael A. Quintana, Stephen Barkaszi, Andrew Rosenthal, Zhen Zhang, Sarah Kurtz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Thermal histories of inverter components were collected from operating inverters from several manufacturers and three locations. The data were analyzed to determine thermal profiles, and the dependence on local conditions, as well as to assess the effect on inverter reliability. Inverter temperatures were shown to increase with the power dissipation of the inverters, follow diurnal and annual cycles, and have a dependence on wind speed. An accumulated damage model was applied to the temperature profiles, and an example of using these data to predict reliability was explored.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number6476624
Pages (from-to)807-813
Number of pages7
JournalIEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5200-59084

Keywords

  • Photovoltaics
  • reliability
  • temperature

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