Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays

Against the backdrop of an urgent energy crisis, solar energy has attracted sufficient attention as one of the most inexhaustible and friendly types of environmental energy. Faced with long service and harsh environment, the poor performance ratios of photovoltaic arrays and safety hazards are frequ...

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Main Authors: Haotian Ding, Rui Guo, Huan Xing, Yu Chen, Jiajun He, Junxian Luo, Maojie Chen, Ye Chen, Shaochun Tang, Fei Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-08-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4879
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author Haotian Ding
Rui Guo
Huan Xing
Yu Chen
Jiajun He
Junxian Luo
Maojie Chen
Ye Chen
Shaochun Tang
Fei Xu
author_facet Haotian Ding
Rui Guo
Huan Xing
Yu Chen
Jiajun He
Junxian Luo
Maojie Chen
Ye Chen
Shaochun Tang
Fei Xu
author_sort Haotian Ding
collection DOAJ
description Against the backdrop of an urgent energy crisis, solar energy has attracted sufficient attention as one of the most inexhaustible and friendly types of environmental energy. Faced with long service and harsh environment, the poor performance ratios of photovoltaic arrays and safety hazards are frequently boosted worldwide. In particular, the hot spot effect plays a vital role in weakening the power generation performance and reduces the lifetime of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Here, our research reports a spatial–temporal hot spot management system integrated with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature sensor arrays and cooling hydrogels. Through finite element simulations and indoor experiments in laboratory conditions, a superior cooling effect of hydrogels and photoelectric conversion efficiency improvement have been demonstrated. On this basis, field tests were carried out in which the FBG arrays detected the surface temperature of the PV module first, and then a classifier based on an optimized artificial neural network (ANN) recognized hot spots with an accuracy of 99.1%. The implementation of cooling hydrogels as a feedback mechanism achieved a 7.7 °C reduction in temperature, resulting in a 5.6% enhancement in power generation efficiency. The proposed strategy offers valuable insights for conducting predictive maintenance of PV power plants in the case of hot spots.
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id doaj-art-07ae8882915d4237b0aee63bb12aa4f6
institution DOAJ
issn 1424-8220
language English
publishDate 2025-08-01
publisher MDPI AG
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series Sensors
spelling doaj-art-07ae8882915d4237b0aee63bb12aa4f62025-08-20T03:04:43ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-08-012515487910.3390/s25154879Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor ArraysHaotian Ding0Rui Guo1Huan Xing2Yu Chen3Jiajun He4Junxian Luo5Maojie Chen6Ye Chen7Shaochun Tang8Fei Xu9Key National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaCollege of Physics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaKey National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaAgainst the backdrop of an urgent energy crisis, solar energy has attracted sufficient attention as one of the most inexhaustible and friendly types of environmental energy. Faced with long service and harsh environment, the poor performance ratios of photovoltaic arrays and safety hazards are frequently boosted worldwide. In particular, the hot spot effect plays a vital role in weakening the power generation performance and reduces the lifetime of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Here, our research reports a spatial–temporal hot spot management system integrated with fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature sensor arrays and cooling hydrogels. Through finite element simulations and indoor experiments in laboratory conditions, a superior cooling effect of hydrogels and photoelectric conversion efficiency improvement have been demonstrated. On this basis, field tests were carried out in which the FBG arrays detected the surface temperature of the PV module first, and then a classifier based on an optimized artificial neural network (ANN) recognized hot spots with an accuracy of 99.1%. The implementation of cooling hydrogels as a feedback mechanism achieved a 7.7 °C reduction in temperature, resulting in a 5.6% enhancement in power generation efficiency. The proposed strategy offers valuable insights for conducting predictive maintenance of PV power plants in the case of hot spots.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4879hot spot managementphotovoltaic modulefiber Bragg grating temperature sensormachine learningcooling hydrogels
spellingShingle Haotian Ding
Rui Guo
Huan Xing
Yu Chen
Jiajun He
Junxian Luo
Maojie Chen
Ye Chen
Shaochun Tang
Fei Xu
Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
Sensors
hot spot management
photovoltaic module
fiber Bragg grating temperature sensor
machine learning
cooling hydrogels
title Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
title_full Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
title_fullStr Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
title_full_unstemmed Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
title_short Spatial–Temporal Hotspot Management of Photovoltaic Modules Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor Arrays
title_sort spatial temporal hotspot management of photovoltaic modules based on fiber bragg grating sensor arrays
topic hot spot management
photovoltaic module
fiber Bragg grating temperature sensor
machine learning
cooling hydrogels
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/15/4879
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