Sensitivity analysis of solar photovoltaic modules to environmental factors through new definitions and formulas

Abstract

Photovoltaic panels are very sensitive to environmental conditions. Study and formulation of this sensitivity lead to improvement of photovoltaic systems. Parameter which shows the rate of impact of environmental conditions on photovoltaic panels is Fill Factor (FF). In this paper, sensitivity of Fill Factor to environmental conditions is compared with another defined parameter, Secondary Efficiency. This comparison has been performed by parallel analyzing of temperature and irradiation, and also the effect of irradiation on temperature. Results of this comparison lead to define another parameter, Influence of Environmental Factors, using binary coding method. Binary coding method studies Fill Factor at all possible shading conditions in an array through MATLAB software. Experimental task has been accomplished to verify the simulation results. Obtained results illustrate that best working condition for a solar module occurs approximately at half sun and an array will be more vulnerable to environmental factors by increasing the number of modules. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.