Theoretical model research on I-V characteristics of solar cell under the marine environment

Abstract

Solar cell is the key component of photovoltaic system on converting the solar radiation to electrical energy. The environmental factors such as solar irradiation, temperature, humidity and dust can directly affect the power output characteristics of solar cells that applied in the different area. Compared with the terrestrial environment, the marine environment is more severe, and the power output characteristics of solar cell in this environment have not been studied with all environmental factors considered. This study aims to establish an appropriate approach on this issue from three aspects, including classical equation, environmental factors and theoretical model. Firstly, the classical equation of I-V characteristics of solar cell is introduced and the limitation of its computational boundary condition is expressed by taking the real environment into consideration. Then, the environmental factors analysis is mainly focused on the difference between terrestrial environment and marine environment, especially the effect factors that can change I-V characteristic of solar cell. Thirdly, two theoretical models (Energy Conservation Model and Parameter Correlation Model) are respectively established to represent the interrelationship between I-V equation and five feature parameters, such as humidity, wind velocity, liquid immersion, particulate matters and ship movement. In the energy conservation model, a control surface is introduced to explain the heat convection, heat conduction and heat radiation process within a typical solar cell module. Based on the universality of cause-effect connection, a decoupling function is introduced in the parameter correlation model for representing the relationship between multiply environmental factors and cell temperature during the photovoltaic conversion process. These two models can be definitely used to study the efficiency and reliability problem of solar cell that applied in other severe environments.