2015 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies [ICCPCT]
Performance Analysis of OFF-GRID Solar Photo
Voltaic System
Ajan.A
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Christ University Faculty of Engineering
Bangalore, India
ajan.a@mtech.christuniversity.in
Abstract—Day by day the demand for electrical energy is
increasing. We can’t rely on conventional energy sources for
meeting this increasing demand as they are depleting. So it is
necessary to find an alternative method to harness the energy
that we are lacking. Solar energy generation seems to be a
promising technology for this dilemma. It is environmental
friendly and infinite source of energy. Photovoltaic systems can
be broadly classified into two-an on-grid system or an off-grid
system. The energy generated from a solar PV system is based on
several factors like irradiance, types of solar PV used and
temperature. Analyzing the existing system efficiency is of prime
importance for the characterization of the problems and for the
improvements. This study deals with the performance analysis of
an on-grid and off-grid system. The analysis is carried out by
modeling an existing system in MATLAB/SIMULINK which is
already in operation. It can be extended to analyze the grid
stability. This study aims the quantification of various
performance parameters like power output, losses in the system,
system efficiency and the total energy transfer.
Keywords—ON-grid systems, MATLAB/SIMULINK, Modeling,
Performance analysis
I. INTRODUCTION
Worldwide researches are happening in the areas of smart
grids and integration of distributed generation to the smart
grids. Many renewable sources such as solar, wind, and tidal is
being exploited for the energy generation. Solar is a clean and
infinite source of energy. The output of a solar module is
depends upon various factors such as irradiance and
temperature. The overall system efficiency depends on the
performance of various components in the system such as PV
module, MPPT, charge controller, battery and the inverter. [1]
Explains about the invention of the solar cell, its timely
development, how insolation is affecting the output and how it
depends on various factors like global position, time, season
and atmospheric conditions. [2] Discusses about the design,
development, and installation of a 100 KW utility and grid
connected solar PV power plants for rural applications in
India. The interconnection of the solar PV system to the grid
having lots of challenges since it is intermittent in nature [3].
Now days there is an increasing interest in the solar PV
systems due to the developments and researches happening in
this field [4]. The reliability of the grid connected systems can
be improved using tie switches [5]. There are some certain
guidelines for evaluating grid connected PV system topologies
978-1-4799-7075-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
K.Prem Kumar
Research and Development wing
ANERT
Trivandrum, India
[6]. Every system should be studied based on certain
performance parameters for making it more generalized [7].
Grid connected energy storage is an alternative to fight back
against the problems occurring due to the intermittencies [8]-
[9]. For reduction of losses in grid connected system
intelligent PV modules are being proposed [10]. Some
benchmarks should be set for the comparison of PV system
and another system running parallel to it [11]. [12]-[13]
Evaluates the impact of PV system on power grid. [14]-[16]
Explains the development of a MATLAB/Simulink model for
photo voltaic arrays. The major difference between a
standalone and a grid tied system is the lack of a storage
system. While the standalone system stores the surplus energy
to the storage system the grid tied system directly injects the
power that is being produced, to the main grid. It enables the
user to make revenue by injecting power to the grid. This
study aims to the development of a 5KW solar PV system
which is already in operation which can be further used to
analyze the performance of the system under varying climatic
conditions. The whole paper can be divided in to two parts. In
the first part the modeling of various components is explained.
The second part consists of the simulation results and the
discussions.
II. MODELING OF COMPONENTS
A. Modeling of a Photo Voltaic module
Due to advancement in manufacturing process the cost of solar
PV modules is showing a descending trend. A module is made
up of several tiny cells and an array is created by grouping of
modules [17]-[18]. A solar photovoltaic cell is a p-n junction
formed from a semiconductor material (usually silicon)
[19].When the cell is exposed to solar radiation the electron
hole pairs are generated in the cell. The electron hole pairs
experiences a drift due to the internal electric field of the cell
[20]. If the terminals of the cell are shorted a current will flow
through the circuit. If the cell is open circuited the current
generated is shunted through a diode which is connected in
parallel with the cell [21]-[23]. The following figure shows the
equivalent circuit diagram and characteristics of a solar cell
[24]. When the cell is open circuited the Voltage at the
terminals is known as open circuit voltage of the cell and
when the cell is short circuited the current through the cell is
called short circuit current. In this model the IV characteristics
 2015 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies [ICCPCT]

is obtained by varying the load resistance from maximum to Is=Diode reverse saturation current, A
zero in a small period of time. Irs=Diode reverse saturation current
I=Output current from the module, A
Ish=Shunt current, A
V=Output voltage from the module, V
N=Diode ideality factor
C=Number of cells in a module
Ns=Number of modules in series
Eg=Energy gap of silicon, 1.12eV
Np=Number of modules in parallel

The series resistance Rs and the shunt resistance Rsh used to

represent the series drop and the shunt leakage current. Ideally
the Rs should be zero and Rsh should be infinite. The increase
Fig 1. Equivalent circuit of a solar cell
in Rs results in increased losses in the module and reduces the
output power. The reduction in the Rsh causing the Voc to drop
[14]. The cell ideality factor is a factor which tells how closely
a cell follows an ideal diode equation [27]-[28].
Matlab/Simulink is used for the simulation of the SSI-3M6-
240 Polycrystalline model. The following data shown in table
I which is obtained from the module data sheet is used for the
simulation. The values of the Rs and Rp are chosen iteratively.

TABLE I. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE SSI-3M6-240

Peak Power(Pmax,W) 240

Max Power Voltage(Vmp) 30.06
Max Power Current(Imp) 8.01
Fig 2. Characteristics of a solar cell
Open Circuit Voltage(Voc) 37.20
The following equations [25]-[26] are used to model the PV Short Circuit Current(ISc) 8.52
module.
Number of cells (C) 60
Vt
K
1 Short circuit current temperature +.06%/oC
coefficient(α)
I Open circuit voltage temperature -.36%/ oC
Irs V 1 2
KCT
coefficient(β)

V I
Ish 3
R
B. Modeling of MPPT
V I Maximum Power Point tracker is used to extract maximum
Id e NV CN 1 IsNp 4 possible power from the solar PV modules. MPPT tracks the
variations in the power output and sets the module operating
point to deliver the maximum possible power output. In this
I IphNp Id Ish 5 analysis a Perturb and Observe algorithm based MPPT is
modeled. But one disadvantage of this method is under rapidly
I
Voc Vt ln 6 varying conditions the performance is poor. Fig.3 describes
I
the P&O algorithm [29]-[30].
Iph Gk Isc K1 Top Tref 7
C. Modeling of a Boost converter
A boost converter is a DC-DC converter which is used [31] to
Where boost the output voltage of the module to a higher voltage to
Gk=Solar irradiance ratio facilitate the charging of a 48V battery. The system under study is
Vt=Thermal voltage having a 48 V battery bank (24 Nos of 2V cells connected in
K=Boltzmann’s constant 1.38e-23 series). During the lower radiation time the voltage is low and
Top=Operating temperature in Celsius during the higher radiation time the voltage is high. For charging
Tref= Reference temperature 25oC the battery the 48 V or above is required. This problem can be
q=Charge of an electron 1.6e-19C solved by boosting the voltage during the lower radiation time to
 2015 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies [ICCPCT]

facilitate the battery charging. The boost converter consists of an F. The complete model of the existing system
inductor, diode, capacitor and a switch. The values of the Fig.6 shows the complete simulation model which is
components are designed accordingly. The duty cycles generated developed.
by the MPPT controls the switching operation.

Fig 6. The complete simulink model

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The various results obtained during the simulation are
given below.
A. Validation of the Photo Voltaic model with the data sheet
Table I shows the data obtained from the data sheet of the
module. Fig.7 shows the obtained characteristics from the
Fig 3. Flow chart of perturb and observe MPPT simulation. From the Fig.7 it can be observe that, the
D. Modeling of a regulator maximum power of 240W is obtained from the model
corresponding to the Vmp and Imp specified by the
The boost converter output found drastically varying according to manufacturer’s data sheet.
the variation in the irradiation. In order to provide a constant DC
voltage to charge the battery a regulator with high efficiency is
needed. A CUK converter along with a PI controller feedback is
used for this purpose. The CUK converter is a DC-DC converter
derived by the combination of a buck boost converter. By the help
of the CUK converter the rapidly varying voltage is regulated to a
constant value.
E. Modeling of a Battery bank
The battery model exists in the Simulink library is configured
according to the performance curve of the battery which is being
used [33]. Fig.4 and Fig.5 shows the performance curves of the
actual battery and the modeled battery respectively.
Fig 7. Characteristics obtained from the simulation

B. Variations in output power of the module according to the

change in the parameters
Fig.8 shows the variations of characteristics according to the
changes in the irradiation.Fig.9 shows the effect of series
resistance on the characteristics.Fig.10, Fig.11, Fig.12 shows
the effect of series resistance, shunt resistance and ideality
factor on the characteristics of the module.
Fig 4.Performance Curves obtained from the data sheet

Fig 5. Performance curves of the battery model in simulink

Fig 8. Effect of irradiation on the characteristics
 2015 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies [ICCPCT]
Fig 9. Effect of temperature on the characteristics
Fig 10.Effect of series resistance on the characteristics
Fig 11.Effect of shunt resistance on the characteristics
Fig 12.Effect of ideality factor on the characteristics
From the simulation results it is evident that the power output
of the module is proportional to the solar irradiation. The
increase in the temperature and series resistance will reduce
the yield. As the shunt resistance decreases the amount of
leakage current increases and the power output decreases. The
module which having higher ideality factors having more
yield. The solar radiation data obtained from the NASA
website is used to give input to the solar PV model. The Fig.13
shows the variation of the irradiation from 7AM-6PM plotted
using a signal builder and can be used as to give input to the
panel model.Fig.14 shows the variation in irradiation and the
corresponding curves of voltage, current and the power.
Fig 13. Varying solar irradiation
Fig 14. Variations in irradiation, voltage, current and power
C. Effect of MPPT
Fig.15 shows the switching signals generated by the MPPT
which is used to control the switching of the DC-DC
converter. It has been observed that a significant improvement
in the energy transfer is achieved by the use of MPPT.
Fig 15.Duty cycle generated by the MPPT
D. DC-DC converter output
Fig.16 shows the output of the DC-DC converter. From the
figure it has been observed that as the voltage increases
current decreases. The power output will remains the same. By
the effect of the DC-DC converter the voltage is boosted even
during the lower irradiation time in order to felicitate the
battery charging.
 2015 International Conference on Circuit, Power and Computing Technologies [ICCPCT]
Fig 16. The current, Voltage, Power output of the DC-DC converter
E. Battery characteristics
The Fig.17 shows the SOC, charging current and voltage across
the battery. These waveforms indicate the amount of energy
drawn by the battery during the charging process, amount of
energy drawn from the battery during the discharging process
and the voltage across the battery.
Fig 17. Battery characteristics
IV. CONCLUSIONS
A simulink model of a 5 KW solar PV system is made which can
be used for performance analysis of the solar PV system under
varying conditions. The power variations, energy conversion
efficiency, losses occurring in the system, are quantified. This
model can also be used to study the grid stability.
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