Simulation Of PV System Research Articles

Photovoltaic Cells Parameter Estimation Using an Enhanced Teaching–Learning-Based Optimization Algorithm

Solar cell is one of the important renewable energy resources, and it is considered a promising source for energy challenges in the future. The identification of solar cell model parameters is very important due to the control and the simulation of PV systems. In this paper, an enhanced teaching–learning-based optimization (ETLBO) algorithm is proposed and applied to estimate the photovoltaic cells parameter. The ETLBO is proposed to improve the performance of conventional TLBO and reduce its search space by adjusting the parameters which control the explorative and exploitative phases to achieve the suitable balancing. The proposed algorithm is validated using real dataset of photovoltaic single-diode and double-diode models. In addition, the proposed algorithm is tested on the dataset of two real PV panels (polycrystalline and monocrystalline). The results obtained by the proposed algorithm are compared with those obtained by other well-known optimization algorithms. All results prove the effectiveness and superiority of proposed algorithm compared with other optimization techniques.

Quantifying the amplified bias of PV system simulations due to uncertainties in solar radiation estimates

Solar radiation databases used for simulating PV systems are typically selected according to their annual bias in global horizontal irradiance (GH) because this bias propagates proportionally to plane-of-array irradiance (GPOA) and module power (PDC). However, the bias may get amplified through the simulations due to the impact of deviations in estimated irradiance on parts of the modeling chain depending on irradiance. This study quantifies these effects at 39 European locations by comparing simulations using satellite-based (SARAH) and reanalysis (COSMO-REA6 and ERA5) databases against simulations using station measurements.SARAH showed a stable bias through the simulations producing the best PDC predictions in Central and South Europe, whereas the bias of reanalyses got substantially amplified because their deviations vary with atmospheric transmissivity due to an incorrect prediction of clouds. However, SARAH worsened at the northern locations covered by the product (55–65°N) underestimating both GPOA and PDC. On the contrary, ERA5 not only covers latitudes above 65° but it also obtained the least biased PDC estimations between 55 and 65°N, which supports its use as a complement of satellite-based databases in high latitudes. The most significant amplifications occurred through the transposition model ranging from ±1% up to +6%. Their magnitude increased linearly with the inclination angle, and they are related to the incorrect estimation of beam and diffuse irradiance. The bias increased around +1% in the PV module model because the PV conversion efficiency depends on irradiance directly, and indirectly via module temperature. The amplification of the bias was similar and occasionally greater than the bias in annual GH, so databases with the smallest bias in GH may not always provide the least biased PV simulations.

Performance simulation of grid-connected rooftop solar PV system for small households: A case study of Ujjain, India

Solar rooftop PV system is an attractive alternate electricity source for households. The potential of solar PV at a given site can be evaluated through software simulation tools. This study is done to assess the feasibility of grid-connected rooftop solar photovoltaic system for a household building in holy city Ujjain, India. The study focuses on the use of various simulation software, PV*SOL, PVGIS, SolarGIS and SISIFO to analyze the performance of a grid-connected rooftop solar photovoltaic system. The study assesses the energy generation, performance ratio and solar fraction for performance prediction of this solar power plant. PV*SOL demonstrates to be easy, fast, and reliable software tool for the simulation of a solar PV system.

Design and Simulation of Stand-alone PV System for Electronic and Communications Engineering Department Laboratories in Al-Nahrain University

In Iraq the problem of electricity shutdown in the main supply is still exists and the cuts may last for hours. This shutdown causes problems in lectures and students experiments in the colleges because all electrical devices are off. PV system is a good alternative source to overcome such a problem

Performance comparison of exponential, Lambert W function and Special Trans function based single diode solar cell models

Accurate modeling plays an important role in solar cell simulation. In order to reveal the applicability and superiority of Special Trans function based single diode model (SBSDM), this paper presents a comprehensive comparison of SBSDM, Lambert W function based single diode model (LBSDM) and exponential-type single diode model (SDM). The performance difference of SBSDM, LBSDM and SDM is verified and compared in two aspects: (1) different fitness to the measured I–V data of solar cells and (2) different parameter extraction performance. To be objective and reproducible, the reported parameter values of standard datasets and measured datasets are employed to validate the fitness difference of the three models. The comparison results indicate that SBSDM always exhibits better fitness than LBSDM and SDM in representing the I–V characteristics of various solar cells and can provide a closer prediction to actual maximum power points. With the help of a ranking based branch selection strategy, a modified Nelder-Mead simplex (MNMS) algorithm is proposed to test the parameter extraction performance of SBSDM, LBSDM and SDM. The comparison results reveal that the time computational efficiency of SBSDM is inferior to SDM but superior to LBSDM. SBSDM always achieves superior accuracy and convergence speed than LBSDM and SDM, although lacking enough statistical robustness. Due to these superiorities, SBSDM is quite promising and envisaged to be the most valuable model for solar cell parameter extraction and PV system simulation.

Parameter extraction of solar cell models using improved shuffled complex evolution algorithm

Fast and accurate parameter extraction of solar cell models is always desired for simulation, evaluation and maximum energy harvesting of PV systems. This paper proposes an improved shuffled complex evolution (ISCE) algorithm for parameter extraction of different PV models, including single diode model, double diode model and single diode solar module model. The novelty of proposed ISCE algorithm lies primary in the improved competitive complex evolution strategy, where three amendments are proposed to overcome the shortcomings of original SCE algorithm. (1) The expansion step and outside contraction step are inserted into to improve the probability of producing better solution. (2) The reflecting-absorbing bound- handling method is employed to enhance the chance of global search and avoid being trapped in local minima. (3) The main diagonal of simplex is adopted to overcome local roughness and drive the global search in an efficient manner. In order to test the parameter extraction performance of proposed ISCE and compare it with some state-of-the-art algorithms, the standard datasets and practical measured datasets of one solar cell and three solar modules are selected for parameter extraction of different PV models. Comparison results indicate that the proposed ISCE algorithm always exhibits the highest computational efficiency to get the most accurate parameter values among all compared algorithms. More importantly, the proposed ISCE algorithm generally promises better convergence speed and robustness than the best reported algorithms. Due to these superiorities, the proposed ISCE algorithm is quite promising and envisaged to be an accurate, efficient and reliable alternative for solving the parameter extraction problem of solar cell models.

A novel tangent error maximum power point tracking algorithm for photovoltaic system under fast multi-changing solar irradiances

In this paper, a novel tangent error maximum power point tracking algorithm based on perturb and observe method is presented to achieve the high efficiency for photovoltaic system under fast multi-changing solar irradiances. In order to get a proper initial value, the mathematical model of optimal voltage is established. By using tangent error method, a dynamic perturbation step is calculated. Meanwhile, the characteristics for tracking direction is analyzed in detail to distinguish oscillating power from changes in irradiances and perturbation step. Moreover, the tracking performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated by modeling, simulation and experiment of PV system. Furthermore, errors and statistical analyses are carried out to illustrate the accuracy of the tangent error algorithm. Compared with previous methods in other works, the results demonstrate that the proposed method not only has the fast tracking speed but also the high efficiency. In addition, it is found that the overall energy conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic module has increased by approximately 3% during the whole time. Besides, due to its ease implementation, high efficiency and reliability under fast varying irradiances, the proposed method can be applied to provide energy for moving carriers, such as UAVs, cars and trains.

PV Power System Component Characterization and System Simulation

PV Power System Component Characterization and System Simulation

Two-dimensional finite difference-based model for coupled irradiation and heat transfer in photovoltaic modules

Simulation of a complete PV system shall stem from a Multiphysics perspective. Within a continuum modeling approach, among these physics, the thermal model of a PV panel is most crucial because all the other models are directly or indirectly related to it. As all models of a PV system are connected sequentially, error from one model component propagates to the next model component and the overall system error accumulates eventually. One of the main objectives of this work was to increase the prediction accuracy by developing a fully transient 2-D finite difference (FD) based thermal model. The developed computational code is completely generic and can be applied to any type of PV technology or configuration. It was shown in the study how to choose an appropriate grid size for any FD model. Using the developed code, various studies were also conducted. Modified radiation models, heat transfer coefficients and thermal networks for the PV panel were proposed in the study, which remarkably improved the accuracy of the thermal model. Also studied were the effects of including heat transfer from the sides of a PV panel and heat generation in the front glass cover. The results showed that ignoring the heat transfer from the sides of a PV panel and including heat generation in the front glass cover have no noticeable difference in the model prediction.

BIM-based PV system optimization and deployment

Distributed PV systems have been widely deployed on building rooftops or facade in more complex environments thanks to their low-carbon footprint and commercial value. As a fact, the shapes and locations of building exteriors as well as their surrounding obstacles highly impact the power output of distributed PV systems. Since they are complex and correlated in nature, these environmental factors have not been precisely dealt with so far in the current manual design practice. Actually, it is evident that if in the design stage these factors can be fully taken into account, the power output versus investment would be largely enhanced. To this end, this paper proposes an automatic distributed PV system design tool, which fully utilizes and integrates the existing information and modeling techniques, i.e. information from Building Information Model (BIM), as well as advanced optimization methods, to facilitate precise PV system simulation and optimization. The proposed tool firstly makes the detailed shade and radiation analysis on the basis of the existing BIM model, and, according to these results, executes an automatic PV design process oriented by the goal of the minimal cost-to-power ratio. Afterwards, a coordinate transform mechanism is designed to automatically transfer the calculated PV design into the BIM model, which facilitates the realization of automatic deployment. This tool has been applied to a roof PV project and verified via both numerical and empirical studies. Results show that compared to human-based design, this tool can improve up to 265% design efficiency, increase 36.1% power output and reduce around 4.5% capital investment per unit power output.

Modeling and simulation of a micro grid-connected solar PV system

In 2012, the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MERE); began promoting the system of ‘Feed-in Tariff’ in billing. The introduced system allows the user to generate electricity through solar panels mounted on the roofs of residential buildings and governmental organizations and tied to the grid. To benefit from MERE’s approach, the National Water Research Center (NWRC) (Qanatir, Egypt) set up a pilot rooftop 91 kW PV system. All the generated electricity is fed into the 220 V, 50 Hz low voltage grid serving NWRC premises. In this manuscript a MATLAB Simulink model is constructed mimicking a detailed representation of the system tied either to the local low voltage grid or to the national high voltage grid. The aim of such modeling effort is to provide early evaluation of the system performance. The economical savings of both scenarios are compared based on the new billing system. Results show that the current system saves 100 thousand L.E./year, while tying the system to the national grid will save 235.8 thousand L.E./year.

Lambert W-function based exact representation for double diode model of solar cells: Comparison on fitness and parameter extraction

Accurate modeling and parameter extraction of solar cells play an important role in the simulation and optimization of PV systems. This paper presents a Lambert W-function based exact representation (LBER) for traditional double diode model (DDM) of solar cells, and then compares their fitness and parameter extraction performance. Unlike existing works, the proposed LBER is rigorously derived from DDM, and in LBER the coefficients of Lambert W-function are not extra parameters to be extracted or arbitrary scalars but the vectors of terminal voltage and current of solar cells. The fitness difference between LBER and DDM is objectively validated by the reported parameter values and experimental I–V data of a solar cell and four solar modules from different technologies. The comparison results indicate that under the same parameter values, the proposed LBER can better represent the I–V and P–V characteristics of solar cells and provide a closer representation to actual maximum power points of all module types. Two different algorithms are used to compare the parameter extraction performance of LBER and DDM. One is our restart-based bound constrained Nelder-Mead (rbcNM) algorithm implemented in Matlab, and the other is the reported Rcr-IJADE algorithm executed in Visual Studio. The comparison results reveal that, the parameter values extracted from LBER using two algorithms are always more accurate and robust than those from DDM despite more time consuming. As an improved version of DDM, the proposed LBER is quite promising for PV simulation and thus deserves serious attention.

A methodology for calculating photovoltaic field output and effect of solar tracking strategy

This paper proposes an effective methodology for calculating the photovoltaic field output. A combination of two methods is first presented for optical performance calculation: point projection method for direction radiation, and Monte Carlo ray-tracing method for both diffuse radiation and albedo radiation. Based on the optical calculation, an accurate output of the photovoltaic field can be obtained through a cell-level simulation of PV system. Several simplified measures are taken to reduce the large amount of calculation work. The proposed methodology has been validated for accurate and fast calculation of field output.With the help of the developed code, this paper deals with the performance comparison between four typical tracking strategies. Through the comparative analysis, the field output is proved to be related to the tracking strategy. For a regular photovoltaic field, the equatorial and elevation-rolling tracking show the superior performance in annual field output to the azimuth-elevation and rolling-elevation tracking. A reasonable explanation for this difference has been presented in this paper.

Design, simulation and economic analysis of standalone roof top solar PV system in India

The process of acquiring photovoltaic power involves designing, selecting and determining specifications depending on a variety of factors, such as geographical location, weather condition, solar irradiance, and load consumption. In this paper a detailed design of a standalone rooftop solar PV system to provide uninterrupted power supply for a hostel building is presented. It outlines the detailed procedure for specifying each component of the stand-alone rooftop solar PV system and its performance analysis using simulation software. Detailed cost analysis including installation and maintenance of a rooftop solar PV system during its life span has also been carried out. The cost of PV generation and environmental benefit are also highlighted.

A mathematical modeling framework to evaluate the performance of single diode and double diode based SPV systems

Abstract In order to predict the performance of a PV system, a reliable and accurate simulation design of PV systems before being installed is a necessity. The present study concerns the development of single and double diode model of solar PV system and ensures the best suited model under specific environmental condition for accurate performance prediction. The information provided in the manufacturers’ data sheet is not sufficient for developing a Simulink based single and double diode models of PV module. These parameters are crucial to predict accurate performance of a PV module. These parameters of the proposed solar PV models have been calculated using an efficient iterative technique. This paper compares the simulation results of both the models with manufacturer’s data sheet to investigate the accuracy and validity. A MATLAB/Simulink based comparative performance analysis of these models under inconsistent atmospheric conditions and the effect of variations in model parameters has been carried out. Despite the simplicity, these models are highly sensitive and respond to a slight variation in temperature and insolation. It is observed that double diode PV model is more accurate under low intensity insolation or shading condition. The performance evaluation of the models under present study will be helpful to understand the I-V curves, which will enable us in predicting the solar PV system power production under variable input conditions.

Comparison of two PV array models for the simulation of PV systems using five different algorithms for the parameters identification

Simulation is of primal importance in the prediction of the produced power and automatic fault detection in PV grid-connected systems (PVGCS). The accuracy of simulation results depends on the models used for main components of the PV system, especially for the PV module. The present paper compares two PV array models, the five-parameter model (5PM) and the Sandia Array Performance Model (SAPM). Five different algorithms are used for estimating the unknown parameters of both PV models in order to see how they affect the accuracy of simulations in reproducing the outdoor behavior of three PVGCS. The arrays of the PVGCS are of three different PV module technologies: Crystalline silicon (c-Si), amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and micromorph silicon (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H).The accuracy of PV module models based on the five algorithms is evaluated by means of the Route Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Normalized Mean Absolute Error (NMAE), calculated for different weather conditions (clear sky, semi-cloudy and cloudy days). For both models considered in this study, the best accuracy is obtained from simulations using the estimated values of unknown parameters delivered by the ABC algorithm. Where, the maximum error values of RMSE and NMAE stay below 6.61% and 2.66% respectively.

Simulation and performance analysis of 110 kWp grid-connected photovoltaic system for residential building in India: A comparative analysis of various PV technology

Abstract System simulation is necessary to investigate the feasibility of Solar PV system at a given location. This study is done to evaluate the feasibility of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic system for a residential Hostel building at MANIT, Bhopal, India (Latitude: 23° 16′ N, Longitude: 77° 36′ E). The study focuses on the use of Solargis PV Planner software as a tool to analyze the performance a 110 kW p solar photovoltaic rooftop plant and also compares the performances of different PV technologies based on simulated energy yield and performance ratio. Solargis proves to easy, fast, accurate and reliable software tool for the simulation of solar PV system.

Modeling and Simulation of an off Grid PV system for with Battery Backup for Remote and Rural Area Network

Modeling and Simulation of an off Grid PV system for with Battery Backup for Remote and Rural Area Network

Modeling and simulation of PV System Integrated with Grid

Modeling and simulation of PV System Integrated with Grid

Physical Design and Modeling of 25V DC-DC Boost Converter for Stand Alone Solar PV Application in Distributed Generation System

As per the present development the shortage in power all over the world seems to be abundance. Renewable energy sources are the capable energy source along with the accessible resources of energy. Among all the renewable resources of energy, solar PV technology is most acceptable due to its considerable advantage over other form of renewable sources. Calculating the output of PV system is a key aspect. The main principle of this paper is to present physical modeling and simulation of solar PV system and DC-DC boost converter in SIMSCAPE library of MATLAB. The benefit by SIMSCAPE library is that it models the system physically and the outcome obtains from it will be considering all the physical result. In this paper the output of solar cell has been interfaced with the boost converter. The system model in SIMSCAPE can be directly converted into hardware for implement for actual time application.