An improved and comprehensive mathematical model for solar photovoltaic modules under real operating conditions

Abstract

This paper presents an improved and comprehensive mathematical model for photovoltaic (PV) device, developed in Matlab based on the basic circuit equation of a solar cell with the basic data provided by the manufacturer. The effects of solar radiation, ambient temperature and cell types, including monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon are fully considered. First, based on the developed model, the characteristics of two types of PV modules has been obtained and verified by other widely used models. Results show that the model can produce the characteristic curves quickly and accurately because initial values assumption and multiple iterations can be avoided. This model is further validated through comparisons between simulated and the measured curves from a real PV system, and very good agreement is achieved between each other, with relative errors at 0.43% and 0.36% for two types of PV. Finally, this model is employed to simulate the performance of a PV system under actual typical cases. The relative error between the simulated and measured electricity on a sunny and cloudy day is 0.60% and −1.08%, respectively, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method.