Modelling, Validation, and Simulation of Solar Photovoltaic Modules

Abstract

Modelling of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems which convert the sunlight into electricity require taking weather data as input variables, such as solar radiation and temperature, the output of the system can be considered as electrical power. The change in the input of the solar PV system will cause a change in the output of the system. In this paper, modelling of solar PV modules based on double-diode model equivalent circuit was achieved using MATLAB script by estimating parameters of the non-linear I-V curve using Newton-Raphson method by adjusting the non-linear I-V curve at three points: maximum power, open circuit voltage, and short circuit current. The established non-linear model allows predicting the behaviour of solar PV modules under different physical and environmental factors. The established model was validated by comparing its predicted performance with measured data of KYOCERA KC125GT solar PV module recorded at the field. The accuracy of the model performance was evaluated using statistical error tests such as root mean square error, RMSE, and correlation coefficient, R2. The results showed that there is a good agreement between measured and predicted data. The performance of the predicted model used for simulation of the effect of variation of environmental factors such as solar radiation and temperature, and physical parameters such as series and parallel resistances. The simulation results show that the increase in solar radiation will result in an increase in harvested power, and the increase in temperature will result in a decrease in harvested power.