Numerical and experimental investigation of parasitic edge capacitance for photovoltaic panel

The occurrence of leakage current (also called ground current) that can occur in photovoltaic (PV) system depends strongly on the value of parasitic capacitance between PV cell and its metal frame, usually earth connected. This paper presents a straightforward approach to calculate the involved panel parasitic capacitance in order to predict the likeliness of such leakage current. A novel 2-D parasitic edge capacitance model is developed to accurately calculate the grounding capacitance of PV panel. Experimental results are obtained on five different PV panels of mono-crystalline, polycrystalline and thin-film type with rated power 10W, 50W and 175W. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach combines easy of applications and satisfying accurateness.