Determination of the I-V curve for a Photovoltaic Generator

Let’s analyze the electrical behaviour of a photovoltaic generator made up of 40 modules, arranged
10 in series x 4 in parallel. The conditions of operation are G = 700 W/m 2 and Ta= 34°C. It is known
that the modules have the following characteristics under standard conditions: I scm = 3 A, Vocm = 19.8
V and Pmaxm = 44.5 W.
Further, it is known that each module consists of 33 cells connected in series and that Nominal Cell
Operating Temperature (NCOT) = 43°C.

a) Determination of the characteristic parameters of the cells that make up the generator under
standard conditions (G = 1000W/m2; spectrum AM 1.5; Normal incidence cell temperature 25°C)

Considering the following parameters:

Nsm = 33, number of cells connected in series in the PV module.
Npm = 1, number of cells connected in parallel in the PV module.

And the characteristic of the module under standard conditions:

Electrical characteristics module
under standard conditions
Iscm 3A
Vocm 19.8 V
Pmaxm 44.5 W

To determine the characteristic parameters of the cells, the following expressions have to be used:

Equation 1:

Equation 2:

Equation 3:

Where PMAX, VOC, and ISC are the maximum power, the open-circuit voltage, and the short-circuit
current, respectively, for each cell of the module, under standard conditions, assuming differences
between cells can be neglected.

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Applying equation 1, 2, and 3, it is possible to find the values for each cell of the module

Electrical characteristics cell

under standard conditions
Isc 3A
Voc 0.6 V
Pmax 1.35 W

Assuming an ideality factor m = 1, the thermal voltage Vt ≃ 25 mV at 300 K. So using the following
expression the thermal voltage for the cell under standard conditions is:

If m=1, Vt≃25 mV at 300 K Value Unity

m 1 -
Vt (mV) 25 mV
Thermal Voltage (Vt) 0.0248 V

Calculating the Normalized Open-Circuit Voltage, , according the following expression:

Equation 4:

The Fill Factor, FF0, of a solar cell with ideal characteristics without resistance in series, RS = 0:

Equation 5:

So replacing in the equation 5, FF0 = 0.83

To obtain the Fill Factor, FF, of the current cell under standard conditions, the equation 6 must be
used:

Equation 6:

Where Vm and Im are the voltage and the current, respectively, at the maximum-power point.
Additionally, the product Im x Vm corresponds to the maximum power that can be delivered to the load
from the cell, PMAX.

So, replacing in equation 6,

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Then, the Normalized Resistance, rS, is given by the equation 7 and equation 8:

Equation 7:

Equation 8:

Using equation 8 to obtain rs, we have: rs = 0.1 < 0.4, so equation 7 can be used to obtain the

resistance in series, Rs.

Reorganizing equation 7, we obtain:

Equation 9:

To obtain the dimensionless parameters a and b, equation 10 and 11 must be used, respectively:

Equation 10:

Equation 11:

In this way, the expressions and can be found using the equations 12 and 13, respectively:

Equation 12:

Equation 13:

b) Determination of the temperature of the cells under the operating conditions being considered

The working temperature of the cells depends exclusively on the irradiance and on the ambient
temperature, according to equation 14:

Equation 14:

Where Tc is the temperature of the solar cell; Ta is the ambient temperature; G is the solar irradiance

(W/m2); and the constant C2, Constant of Proportionality between (Tc – Ta) and G, has the value given
by equation 15

Equation 15:

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Where NCOT = 43°C. So C2 = 0.0288 °C m2/W.

With Ta = 34 °C and using equation 14, we obtain Tc = 54.13 °C.

c) Determination of the characteristic parameters of the cells under the considered operating
conditions
The operating conditions are:
2
G (W/m ) 700
Ambient Temperature (°C) 34
Working Temperature of the Cells (Tc) (°C) 54.13

Taking into account that the short-circuit current of a solar cell depends exclusively and linearly on the
irradiance (equation 17), and it can be considered the Constant of Proportionality between G and I sc,

given by the equation 16:

Equation 16:

and

Equation 17:

Then, C1 = 0.003 A m2/W and the short-circuit current,

Isc (700 W/m2) = 2.1 A

The open-circuit voltage of the module, Voc, depends exclusively on the temperature of the solar cells
Tc, considered in the range of operating conditions considered, and is given by:

Equation 18:

So Voc (Tc=54.13°C) = 0.533 V

Now, considering Rs = 0.02 Ω, as a constant

Vt = 0.03 V; = 19.55 V; rs = 0.0789; so FF0 = 0.805; FF = 0.741

From the definition of Fill Factor, equation 6, we can rearrange, to obtain Pmax

Equation 19:

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Considering the equations 10, 11, 12, and 13, to obtain a, b, , and , respectively, we have

Parameters Value
a 17.47
b 0.95
Vm/Voc 0.7880
Im/Isc 0.9332

d) Determination of the characteristic I-V curve of the generator under the considered operating
conditions
The operating conditions are:
G (W/m2) 700
Ambient Temperature (°C) 34
Working Temperature of the Cells (Tc) (°C) 54.13

Considering the following parameters:

Nsm = 33, number of cells connected in series in the PV module.
Npm = 1, number of cells connected in parallel in the PV module.

Then,
Np = Npm x N° modules in parallel
Ns = Nsm x n° modules in series

So Np = 4 and Ns = 330

To determine short-circuit current of the generator, Iscg, the following expression has to be considered:

Equation 20:

To determine the open-circuit voltage of the generator, Vocg, the following expression has to be
considered:

Equation 21:

To determine the series resistance of the generator, Rsg, the following expression has to be
considered:

Equation 22:

And to determine the maximum power of the generator, Pmaxg, the following expression has to be
considered:

Equation 23:

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Considering the equations 20, 21, 22, and 23, we have the parameters for the photovoltaic generator,
under operating conditions:
Generator under operating conditions
Iscg 8.40 A
Vocg 175.89 V
Rsg 1.65 Ω
Pmaxg 1,095 W

To determine the I-V curve of the photovoltaic generator under the operating conditions, the following
expressions has to be used:

Equation 24:

As can be seen in equation 24, IG is in both sides of the equation, so in order to calculate the value of
the current corresponding to a given voltage, it is needed to resort to substituting I G for Iscg in the
second term. Thus:

Equation 25:

So, substituting the values presented in the last table (page 5), and for VG = 140, we obtain

In this way, substituting the value of voltage, from 0 to the value of Vocg we obtain the I-V curve for the
generator under the operating conditions.

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 I-V Curve for the PV Generator under operation conditions
(G=700 W/m2; Ta=34 °C)
9
8
7
6
Current (A)

5
4
3
2
1
0
-1 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Voltage (V)

I - V curve of the Generator for the conditions of operation

2
Voltage (G) I (G=700 W/m ; Ta=34°C)
0 8.40
1 8.40
2 8.40
3 8.40
4 8.40
5 8.40
6 8.40
7 8.40
8 8.40
9 8.40
10 8.40
11 8.40
12 8.40
13 8.40
14 8.40
15 8.40
16 8.40
17 8.40
18 8.40
19 8.40
20 8.40
21 8.40
22 8.40
23 8.40
24 8.40
25 8.40
26 8.40
27 8.40
28 8.40
29 8.40
30 8.40
31 8.40
32 8.40

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 33 8.40
34 8.40
35 8.40
36 8.40
37 8.40
38 8.40
39 8.40
40 8.40
41 8.40
42 8.40
43 8.40
44 8.40
45 8.40
46 8.40
47 8.40
48 8.40
49 8.40
50 8.40
51 8.40
52 8.40
53 8.40
54 8.40
55 8.40
56 8.40
57 8.40
58 8.40
59 8.40
60 8.40
61 8.40
62 8.40
63 8.40
64 8.40
65 8.40
66 8.40
67 8.40
68 8.40
69 8.40
70 8.40
71 8.40
72 8.40
73 8.40
74 8.40
75 8.40
76 8.40
77 8.40
78 8.40
79 8.40
80 8.40
81 8.40
82 8.40
83 8.40
84 8.40
85 8.40
86 8.40
87 8.40
88 8.40
89 8.40
90 8.40
91 8.40

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 92 8.40
93 8.40
94 8.40
95 8.40
96 8.39
97 8.39
98 8.39
99 8.39
100 8.39
101 8.39
102 8.39
103 8.39
104 8.39
105 8.39
106 8.38
107 8.38
108 8.38
109 8.38
110 8.37
111 8.37
112 8.37
113 8.36
114 8.36
115 8.35
116 8.35
117 8.34
118 8.34
119 8.33
120 8.32
121 8.31
122 8.30
123 8.29
124 8.28
125 8.26
126 8.25
127 8.23
128 8.21
129 8.19
130 8.16
131 8.13
132 8.10
133 8.07
134 8.03
135 7.98
136 7.93
137 7.88
138 7.82
139 7.75
140 7.67
141 7.59
142 7.49
143 7.39
144 7.27
145 7.13
146 6.98
147 6.82
148 6.63
149 6.42
150 6.19

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 151 5.93
152 5.64
153 5.32
154 4.95
155 4.55
156 4.10
157 3.59
158 3.03
159 2.39
160 1.69
161 0.90
162 0.02
163 0.00

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