Experimental Study of Environmental Impact on the Efficiency of a House-Hold PV Panel

Abstract

House-hold PV panels are widely used; however, their performance is significantly degraded under real operating conditions. Environmental factors such as ambient temperature, wind speed, and solar irradiance has a major impact on the house-hold PV panel efficiency. In this paper an experimental study was conducted during the winter period in a single building in Minqin county, Gansu province, China. The experimental measurements were used to quantify the house-hold PV panel performance and operating characteristics. Based on the experimental results the house-hold PV panel performance is basically affected by the PV surface temperature, therefore, multilevel of energy is detected. Approximately 3% efficiency variation is detected due to the impact of the environmental factors.