Sampling plans for control-inspection schemes under independent and dependent sampling designs with applications to photovoltaics

Abstract

The evaluation of produced items at the time of delivery is, in practice, usually amended by at least one inspection at later time points. We extend the methodology of acceptance sampling for variables for arbitrary unknown distributions when additional sampling information is available to such settings. Based on appropriate approximations of the operating characteristic, we derive new acceptance sampling plans that control the overall operating characteristic. The results cover the case of independent sampling as well as the case of dependent sampling. In particular, we study a modified panel sampling design and the case of spatial batch sampling. The latter is advisable in photovoltaic field monitoring studies, since it allows to detect and analyze local clusters of degraded or damaged modules. Some finite sample properties are examined by a simulation study, focusing on the accuracy of estimation.