2016 7th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)

Performance Comparison of Silicon PV Module

Between Standard Test and Real Test Conditions

Olfa BEL HADJ BRAHIM KECHICHE Marwa HAMZA, Habib SAMMOUDA

Laboratoire d’Energie et de Matériaux (LR11ES34) Laboratoire d’Energie et de Matériaux (LR11ES34)
Université de Sousse, ESSTHSousse, Rue Abbassi Lamine, Université de Sousse, ESSTHSousse, Rue Abbassi Lamine,
4011 HSousse, Tunisia. 4011 HSousse, Tunisia.
[email protected] [email protected],
[email protected]

Abstract— The purpose of the work was to evaluate and compare standard test and real test conditions according to irradiance
the performances of silicon PV module under standard test and and temperature variations.
real test conditions. For these purposes, we proceeded in this work, to develop
This paper provides a detailed analytical model for and detail the theoretical background related to the
characterizing the electrical performance of silicon photovoltaic photovoltaic module and for the equivalent one-diode circuit of
module. The simulation results have been performed in a solar cell. The PV module in MATLAB/Simulink®
MATLAB/Simulink® environment.
environment is implemented and simulation results are
We proved that difference between the standard test and real test
conditions, is attributed to various factors including effect of
obtained for standards test conditions using the electrical
temperature variations and consequently some adjustments characteristics of a Multicrystalline BP MSX 60 Photovoltaic
should be considered in electrical parameters to improve the PV Module of 60-Watt. Finally, the simulation results obtained in
module efficiency. real test conditions are presented and discussed by comparing
for STC one.

Keywords- PV Module, one-diode model, MATLAB/Simulink®, II. MATHEMATICAL PHOTOVOLTAIC MODEL

Performance, Standard Test Conditions (STC), Real Test
Conditions (RTC).
A. PV cell modeling
I. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the use of solar energy reaches many domestic Many equivalent circuits have been proposed in the
and industrial installations due to its free of pollution, long life literature in order to determine the electrical characteristics I-V
time, low maintenance and to the depletion of oil, [1, 2, 3]. of photovoltaic cell. In our case, the one-diode model which
Therefore, the understanding of PV module characteristics is delivers a simplified description of the solar cell is considered,
essential to improve the energetic efficiency of PV systems. [1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10].
The electrical characteristics I-V of photovoltaic module are The equivalent electrical circuit of a PV cell is given by
provided by the manufacturer’s datasheet only under standard Fig.1.
test conditions (STC), where the light source magnitude and
spectral characteristics and temperature are fixed successively Rs ,cell
I
at 1000 W/m2, AM1.5 and 25°C. I ph ,cell
As its known some studies are focalized on the amelioration of
PV efficiency by acting on the materials cells or in electrical
I d ,cell I Rsh ,cell
parameters [4] and particularly for concentrated PV (CPV)
D Rsh ,cell V
applications [3, 4, 5].
In effect, the preceding values, which are the reference values,
cannot be explicitly used to achieve the real performance of PV
module. Based on some results [5, 6, 7] proved that electrical
characteristics I-V is highly dependent of irradiance and
Figure 1. Equivalent one-diode circuit of a solar cell
temperature variations, we think that it’s necessary to evaluate
and compare the performances of silicon PV module under

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 3
 T   qEg  1 1  
Basing on Fig. 1 and using Kirchhoff’s first law, the cell  I sref ,cell    (4)
I s ,cell
T  exp  
output current, denoted I , is given by the Eq. (1):  ref   nK  Tref T  

I  I ph ,cell  I d ,cell  I Rsh ,cell (1)

I sc ,cell
I sref ,cell  (5)
where V 
exp  oc ,cell   1
I ph ,cell is the photocurrent produced by the incident light;  nVth ,cell 
where
I d ,cell is the diode current;
I Rsh ,cell is the current absorbed by the shunt resistor. Voc ,cell is the Open-Circuit voltage of photovoltaic cell (V);
K v : Cell’s Short-Circuit voltage temperature Coefficient
B. Mathematical expression of cell parameters (mV/ °C);
V is the cell output voltage (V);
In order to determine the I-V relationship, the cell n is the diode ideality or quality factor, dependent on cell
materials and temperature variation;
parameters of I ph ,cell , I d ,cell and I Rsh ,cell must be defined. q is the Electron charge (1.602 × 10-19 C);
The photovoltaic current I ph ,cell is calculated according to K is the Boltzmann constant (1.38 x 10 -23 J/K);
Eg is the material band gap energy.
Eq. (2) as a function of irradiance and temperature values, [4].

G
I ph ,cell 
Gref
 I sc _ ref  Ki .T  (2) I Rsh ,cell is the current absorbed by the shunt resistor, given
by Eq. (6):
where
V  IRs ,cell
T  T  Tref I Rsh ,cell  (6)
Rsh ,cell
T : Cell operating temperature (K);
Tref : Reference cell operating temperature (25 °C=298.15 K);
Rsh ,cell is the cell shunt resistor.
G : Irradiance on the Cell Surface (W/m2);
Gref : Reference irradiance on the Cell Surface (1000W/m2);
Then, the cell output current, resulting from equations Eq.
I sc _ ref : Short-Circuit Current of photovoltaic cell under STC (1), Eq. (3) and Eq. (6), is given by Eq. (7):
(A);
K i : Cell’s Short-Circuit Current temperature Coefficient  V  IRs,cell    V  IR
(mA/°C). I  I ph,cell  I s,cell exp   1  s ,cell
(7)
 nVth,cell   Rsh,cell

I d ,cell is the diode current, modeled by the equation for a

Shockley diode Eq. (3), [10]: Therefore, the I-V and P-V cell characteristics can be
obtained by Eq. (7) implementation.
 V  IRs ,cell    The next section deals with PV module modeling in order
I d ,cell  I s ,cell exp    1 (3)
to make performance comparison between the standard test
 nVth ,cell   and the real test conditions including temperature and
where irradiance variations effects.

Vth ,cell is the thermal voltage of the cell; C. PV module modeling

Rs ,cell is the cell series resistor. To obtain a significant output power to supply a variable
load, the cells must be connected in series and parallels, [5, 8,
11, 14].
I s ,cell is the diode saturation current, can be determined
PV cells in series and parallel connection forms a module.
using equations Eq. (4) and Eq. (5), [11, 12, 13]:

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 The module output current, denoted I , is given by the Eq.
(8):
 V  IRs,module    V  IR
I  I ph,module  I s,module exp   1  s ,mod ule
 nV  R (8)
 th,mod ule   sh,mod ule

Where
I ph ,mod ule  N p * I ph ,cell ;
I s ,mod ule  N p * I s ,cell ;
Vth ,mod ule  N s *Vth ,cell ;
Ns
Rs ,mod ule  * Rs ,cell ;
Np
N Figure 2. Solar Module modeling with MATLAB/Simulink®
Rsh ,mod ule  s * Rsh ,cell ;
Np
IV. PV MODULE PERFORMANCE UNDER STANDARD TEST
N s is the number of cells connected in series; CONDITIONS
N p is the number of cells connected in parallel. At STC, the module series resistor and the module shunt
resistor of BP MSX 60 are measured by [11] and are fixed

III. PV MODULE IMPLEMENTATION successively at Rs ,mod ule  0.2  and Rsh ,mod ule  304.83  .

In this case, the Si band gap Eg is fixed at Eg  1.12 eV .

In order to evaluate and compare the performances of
silicon PV module under standard test and real test conditions, The diode ideality factor n is fixed at n  1.3 .
a Multicrystalline BP MSX 60 Photovoltaic Module of 60- The I cc ,mod ule and the Voc ,mod ule are extracted from the
Watt is considered. The manufacturer specifications of
considered model are provided by [16] and will be used for manufacturer specifications.
simulation study. The simulation results are shown below Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5,
Based on Eq. (8), the solar module model was implemented Fig.6, Fig.7, Fig.8, Fig.9 and Fig.10.
in MATLAB/Simulink® environment, as shown in Fig.2.
4
The solar module model inputs are successively, the
operating solar module temperature, the irradiation, the cell 3.798A
series resistor, the cell shunt resistor and the diode ideality 3
factor.
Current (A)

Also this model requires the BP MSX 60 Electrical 2

Parameters at STC in order to determine its electrical
characteristics such as the I-V and P-V characteristics.
1
21.07V
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Voltage (V)
Figure 3. I-V characteristic of PV module at STC
( G  1000W / m 2 , T  298.15K )

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 70 4
59.39W 1.3
60 1.8 1.5
3
50 2

Current (A)
Power (W)

40 2
30
1
20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 Voltage (V)
Voltage (V) Figure 7. I-V curves for 4 different diode ideality factors n
Figure 4. P-V characteristic of PV module at STC
( G  1000W / m 2 , T  298.15K )
4
Fig.3 and Fig.4 represent successively the I-V and 1.078e 7 A
P-V characteristics for PV module. The I-V and P-V 7
4.132e A 2.156e 7 A
simulation results and considered manufacturer 3

Current (A)
specifications show a good agreement in terms of
Voc ,mod ule , I sc ,mod ule and Pmax . 2
8.624e 7 A

4
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25
0.44 0.22
3 Voltage (V)
Current (A)

0.66 Figure 8. I-V curves for 4 different diode saturation currents Is

2

1 4
1000W / m 2
750W / m 2
0 3
Current (A)

0 5 10 15 20 25
500W / m 2
Voltage (V) 2
Figure 5. I-V curves for 4 different module series
250W / m 2
resistors Rs ,mod ule 1

4 0
3000 0 5 10 15 20 25
250 Voltage (V)
3
Current (A)

100 Figure 9. I-V curves for 4 different irradiations G

50
2 and T  298.15 K

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Voltage (V)
Figure 6. I-V curves for 4 different module shunt
resistors Rsh ,mod ule

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 V. PV MODULE PERFORMANCE UNDER REAL TEST
4
273K CONDITIONS
298K
3
Current (A)

323K At real test conditions, the real/operating module

temperature is T  326.93 K and G  1000 W m 2 .
2
348K
In this case, the module series resistor of BP MSX 60 are
1 strongly linked in temperature variations.
The Si band gap Eg and the diode ideality factor n are
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 also dependent on temperature variations, [15].
Voltage (V) The Voc ,mod ule is also dependent on temperature variation.
Figure 10. I-V curves for 4 different module temperatures T Then, to simulate the PV module in RTC, it should be take
and G  1000 W m 2
account and implanted this equation in MATLAB/Simulink®
environment.
The simulation results are shown below Fig.12 and Fig.13
Fig.5 show the variation of electrical module characteristic represent respectively, the I-V and P-V characteristics of the
designed model.
I-V by varying the value of series resistors. The Rs ,mod ule has
3.884A
large impact on the slope of the I-V curves. Then, the higher 4
Rs ,mod ule values reduce the power module output.
3.798A
Fig.6 show the variation of electrical module characteristic 3
I-V by varying the value of shunt resistors Rsh ,mod ule . Contrary
Current (A)

STC
to the Rs ,mod ule influence, the lower Rsh ,mod ule values reduce the 2
RTC
power module output
Fig.7 show the effect of changing the diode ideality factors 1
n . By increasing the n value, the maximum power module 15.25V 21.07V
output decreases.
0
Fig.8 shows the variation of electrical module characteristic 0 5 10 15 20 25
I-V by varying the value of diode saturation currents I s . It is Voltage (V)
found that there is a significant decreasing in the Voc ,mod ule . Figure 11. I-V characteristic of PV module at RTC
( G  1000 W m 2 , T  326.93 K )
At constant temperature ( T  273 K ), Fig.9 presents the I-
V curves for different module irradiation value which are 250,
70
500, 750 and 1000 W/m2 respectively. This figure shows the I- 59.39W
V characteristics which are highly dependent on the irradiance 60
values. By increasing the irradiance value, the increase in
50
I sc ,mod ule is much larger than the increase in the Voc ,mod ule . 41.29W STC
Power (W)

40
At constant irradiation ( G  1000W / m2 ), Fig.10 presents 30
the I-V curves for different module temperature value which RTC
are 273, 298, 323 and 348 K respectively. This figure shows 20
that the I-V characteristics are also highly dependent on the 10
temperature values. Contrary to the irradiation influence, by
increasing the temperature value, the I sc ,mod ule slightly decreases 0
0 5 10 15 20 25
but the Voc ,mod ule considerably increases. Voltage (V)
Figure 12. P-V characteristic of PV module at RTC
( G  1000 W m 2 , T  326.93 K )

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 The following simulation results and conclusions have REFERENCES
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