Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Since 1990, Fraunhofer ISE has made important contributions to the quality control of photovoltaic power plants. We offer ongoing services in quality assurance from the planning phase through to power plant operation.
In projects carried out in cooperation with renowned international partners, we permanently are putting our many years of experience to test. Our leading scientific expertise and state-of-the-art equipment are a fundamental part of our service. We offer customized, continuous quality assurance for PV power plants of all sizes.
Our yield assessments lay the basis for a comprehensive evaluation of future power plants – also for novel technologies – and provide information about the expected yield at each site. For our simulations we rely on our expertise in the field and make use of the data from component characterizations carried out in our laboratories, as well as our outdoor Solar TestField. An on-site analysis with visual inspections, thermographic images and actual yield measurements provide information about the system quality and assists in identifying faults.
After commissioning, we determine the actual performance ratio of the power plant with help of our precise environment and irradiation monitoring system. We compare the results with the values predicted in the yield assessment and are thus able to recognize potential deviations from optimal operation at an early stage.
Together with our industrial partners, we continuously develop specified monitoring solutions and improve our own PV simulation tool "Zenit" in public research projects.
