Performance Comparison of Image Processing Techniques employed for Detection of Micro Cracks in Solar PVC

Abstract

Micro cracks are a subject of substantive research in the Photo-Voltaic (PV) industry due to its effects on the performance of Photo-Voltaic Cells (PVCs). They are minute fractures in the constitution of PVCs that occur during the PVC/wafer manufacturing process or due to application of thermal stress or after the manufacturing process on account of stress produced in transportation & handling. These cracks reduce the efficiency by a significant amount so PVC needs to be continuously monitored as it may lead to total failure of the overall system generating electricity. This paper focuses on some of the recent image processing techniques employed to detect micro-cracks after capturing their images using CCD cameras. The techniques are implemented in MATLAB-13a. The result shows that cracks are detected by all the techniques with some impurities affecting the result.