Estimation of most frequent operating conditions of different technology silicon photovoltaic module in India using IEC 61853-1 approach

Abstract

In the present scenario, India is executing one of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) program. The ambitious target of India's national solar mission is to achieve 100 GW PV installation by the year 2022, which has led to the rapid setup of large PV systems. Many planners, financers, system integrators, and consumers generally rely on power rating under standard test condition (STC) for assessing field performance of PV systems, which leads to a large deviation and uncertainty, because standard test conditions rarely occur in field. In this work, irradiance and temperature matrix of IEC 61853-1 is slightly modified to examine frequency of operating conditions of three different Si based technology PV modules for estimating most frequent operating conditions in India. The most frequent operating condition estimated within a narrowed region of IEC 61853-1 is 750 W/m2 and 60 0C; 800 W/m2 and 55 0C; 800 W/m2 and 60 0C for multi crystalline Si, hetro-junction with intrinsic thin layer and amorphous Si PV modules respectively. Results show that the most frequent operating conditions of different Si based technology PV modules are in nearby ranges, which indicates that rating PV module at 800 W/m2 and 60 0C could give better estimation of performance in field conditions compared to standard test conditions. Analysis of operating conditions under narrowed region indicates that addition of 60 0C temperature in IEC 61853-1 could be beneficial for better estimation of most frequent operating conditions of India.