The Investigation of Produced Power Output During High Operating Temperature Occurrences of Monocrystalline and Amorphous Photovoltaic Modules

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) is a device that produces electricity from sunlight. The conversion ability of it could be reduced by several factors. High temperature or heat accumulation could result in lower power output. Monocrystalline silicon (MCS) and amorphous silicon (AS) were tested in normal operating condition in order to investigate the effect of high operating temperature on power output of those PVs. The experiments were carried out at Kamrieng, Maha Sarakham province, Thailand. The results showed that AS could produce higher power output at high operating temperature when comparing to MCS. The 40 watts rated output at STC testing condition of 25°C operating temperature was taken into account. For 80% - 115% higher in operating temperature, AS produced less power output of 3% - 20% and MCS produced less power output of 23% - 33%. The pros and cons of using AS over MCS were also discussed.