Investigating PV Module Far-Field Radiation: A Measurement and
Circuit-CEM Hybrid Modelling Approach
Abstract
Lightning-produced electromagnetic fields can couple into photovoltaic
(PV) installations and cause damage. This study examines the far-field
radiation patterns of a small and a large PV module between 9 kHz and 30
MHz â\euro“ by both measurement and simulation. Due to reciprocity,
these are also the susceptibility patterns. Firstly, the radiation
patterns of each PV module are measured using a vector network analyser
and a receiving loop antenna at multiple positions. Secondly, the
radiation patterns of each PV module are computed using a novel
circuit-computational electromagnetic hybrid methodology. This
methodology is applied to two literature-based models, as well as four
recently-proposed PV module models. Postprocessing is applied to both
the measured and simulated results to produce the realized gain in each
case - allowing fair comparisons to be made. The measured gain results
over the full frequency range are then presented. The small PV module
shows low levels of gain, peaking at -32.5 dB at 30 MHz, whilst the
large PV module shows much higher levels of gain, peaking at -16.9 dB at
10.5 MHz. Following this, the measured and simulated radiation patterns
are compared at the frequencies where maximum gain occurs. The small PV
module exhibits directional radiation characteristics, whereas the large
PV module shows omnidirectional operation â\euro“ one of many novel
findings produced by this study.