Effect of Temperature on The I-V and P-V Curves of The Photovoltaic Cell

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are semiconductor materials that convert sunlight coming on their surfaces directly into electrical energy. Solar panels can be converted into electrical energy with efficiency between 5% and 20% depending on the structure of the solar cells. There are many factors which affect the PV cells' generation of electrical energy. These factors are such as efficiency of the solar cells, sunshine duration, humidity, dust, solar radiation and temperature. In this article, the effect of temperature on the PV cell current-voltage (I-V) and power- current (P-V) curves were investigated. Low temperatures do not adversely effect on solar cell efficiency, while high temperatures reduce productivity significantly. This study was carried out for 10 (°C), 30 (°C) and 50 (°C) of ambient temperature. The effect of temperature on the P-V and I-V of the PV solar cell analyzed and plotted by Matlab/Simulink software program. The efficiency of a photovoltaic PV cell mainly depends on the ambient temperature, PV cell temperature, solar irradiation intensity and the type of semiconductor materiel which the PV cell is produced. In this study, using the PV cell catalog data, the equivalent circuit of the panel is modeled in Matlab software program and the effects of temperature changes on the PV cell power have been investigated.