Dr Raghavi BHOOPATHY

Employment experience:

2024 – Now: Field Application Engineer (Array Technologies, Australia)

2022 – 2024: Solar Energy Engineer (WSP, Australia)

2021 – 2022: Product Field Performance Engineer (5B, Australia)

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Education:

2017 – 2021: Doctor of Philosophy in Photovoltaic Engineering (UNSW)

2013 – 2016: Master of Science by Research (Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India)

2009 – 2013: Bachelor in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (Anna University, India)

Research interests:

• Outdoor photoluminescence imaging of solar modules 

• Outdoor contactless extraction of individual cell's I-V characteristics from solar modules

Why is your research important?

Photovoltaic (PV) modules are prone to damages during transportation, installation and operation leading to high demand for module inspection in the field. Photoluminescence (PL) is a very powerful characterization method that can provide high resolution spatially resolved information of cells and modules in a contactless manner. One of the main challenges associated with luminescence-based outdoor module inspection is the strong ambient sunlight. During the course of my Ph.D., I developed the first-ever PL imaging system to characterize PV modules in full sunlight without requiring any modification to the PV system. 

I-V measurement of individual solar cells in a degraded module provides more accurate and specific information regarding the nature of faults identified by PL imaging, leading to a detailed understanding of the underlying detrimental recombination mechanisms. I developed a contactless and non-destructive method that is based on Suns-photoluminescence measurements to extract the current-voltage characteristics of individual solar cells under operating conditions in the field. The main advantages of this technique include its low cost, as well as its fast and easy applicability.

Why do you like research? 

Doing something that no one in the world has done before is always fascinating. I love the feeling that my contributions will be etched into scientific literature forever. I feel proud to know that my efforts will at least create a ripple on the path to a better world.

What do you like to do when you are not saving the world?

Martial arts, yoga, meditation.