Temperature prediction-based realistic performance analysis of various electrical configurations of solar PV panels

Abstract

In this paper, a temperature prediction-based approach for realistic performance analysis of the solar photovoltaic system has been investigated. Dissimilar to general methods, the change in module temperature, due to changing solar irradiance, has been considered for realistic and accurate performance evaluation results under mismatch conditions. The module temperature is predicted by a linear equation representing the effects of ambient temperature, wind speed, and irradiance. An optimized technique has been implemented for photovoltaic panel modeling. It provides an accurate estimation of the series and shunt resistances of the photovoltaic panel. The proposed modeling method provides an accuracy of less than 0.02% at the maximum power point. The temperature prediction-based approach has been applied to a solar photovoltaic system of 16 panels, modeled using the proposed technique. Further, five photovoltaic configurations were investigated: Series, Series-Parallel, Honey-Comb, Bridge-Linked, and Total-Cross-Tied. The performance evaluation of each configuration is based on the generated maximum power, fill factor, and mismatch loss. Under mismatch conditions, the Total-Cross-Tied configuration shows a good immunity against mismatch by minimizing losses in all the considered mismatch patterns. The proposed approach provides more accurate results than the available ones because it considers the temperature effect (due to variation in ambient temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed), accounting for up to 12% reduction in output power of photovoltaic modules.