36. Practical Identification of the Photovoltaic Module Parameters

As the amount of the energy radiated to the earth by the sun exceeds the annual energy requirement of the world population, making use of this inexhaustible energy source for our everyday electricity requirement is the great challenge of the present and the future. The generation of electric energy from the sun via photovoltaic (PV) generation is one of the most appropriate candidates in this manner. For PV applications, the accurate simulation of the PV module performance, which is an important point in the accurate design of these systems, depends mainly on the electrical parameters of the PV module (series resistance, reverse saturation current, short-circuit current temperature coefficient, and ideality factor). Also, the knowing of the effect of the ageing on the PV module performance after a certain period requires an accurate identification of these parameters. This chapter presents accurate methods to get the PV module electrical parameters depending on practical measurements for its current–voltage (I–V) characteristics under different operating conditions (different solar radiation intensity and module temperature) using an accurate data acquisition system. Then, the chapter compares the theoretical performance of the PV module using the identified parameters with the measured curves to arrive at the accurate determination of the PV module parameters.