Validation of Thermal Models for Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Module Under Derna City Climate Conditions

Abstract

The main objective of the present paper is to compare nine different cell temperature models available in the literature with data measured under real Derna city climatic conditions (a semi arid climate) for month of August. The study focuses on a comparison of nine theoretical models to calculate the cell temperature based on the experimental measurements such as the ambient temperature, irradiance, and wind speed in some of the models. The presently used models are explicit, depending on the easily measurable parameters and of wide applicability. Six statistical quantitative indicators are used to evaluate the cell temperature models analysed, namely, R2, RMSE, RRMSE, MAE, MBE and MARE. The cell temperature correlations presently studied, first order linear models depending on the ambient temperature, solar irradiation incident on the panel and voltage output, provide the most accurate cell temperature estimations at Derna city climatic conditions.