PROS AND CONS OF PV SYSTEMS
Advantages
Low running costs
Low user/overall maintenance
Long service life
Easily upgradable
Minimum risk of electric shock
Quiet operation
No toxic fumes
No fire hazard
Disadvantages
High capital cost
Weather dependent performance
Batteries are the weakest link and need
rigorous maintenance and periodic
replacement
User training is important for optimum
performance/operation
Requires careful manual/automatic
monitoring
Liable to theft/vandalism
 BASIC DESIGN PRINCIPLES

The system should be designed so that it provides enough

energy for all seasons and loads.

There usually has to be some form of energy storage.

The system needs to be able to supply the peak power

requirements of the loads.
 FUNDAMENTAL MEASUREMENTS

Hour (h) – unit of time

Volt (V) – unit of voltage
Ampere (A) – unit of electricity
Ampere-hour (Ah) – unit for capacity of battery – Ah = A x h
Watt (W) – unit of power
Watt-hour (Wh) – unit of energy

Power = voltage x current

W=AxV

Energy = power x time

Wh = W x h
 FUNDAMENTAL MEASUREMENTS - II

Example Solution
Power of a 20 V laptop using 1.5 A current: P = 20V x 1.5 A = 30W
If laptop functions for 5 hours, the energy consumed: E = 30W x 5h =150Wh
An 8W lamp powered with 12V consumes a current: I = 8W/12V=0.666A
A lamp that consumes 30Wh in 3 hours has a power: P = 30Wh/3h = 10W
After 2 hours the energy consumption of 10W lamp: E = 2h x 10W = 20Wh
 STANDARD APPLICATION CONDITIONS

The maximum power or output of a module is indicated as Watt peak

(Wp).

Optimum weather conditions

Solar irradiance – 1000W/m2
Temperature – 25ºC
Air mass – 1.5

A 60Wp module can produce a maximum of 60W under the above

conditions.

Owing to losses a PV module will always produce a bit less than its
peak power.
 IMPACT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE
PERFORMANCE OF PV
A PV module will always produce a bit less than its peak power, especially in
hot climates.

In summer the module temperature can reach up to 70 °C. For this reason
modules should be kept as cool as possible. At temperatures greater than 25°C
(temperature of the cell itself), power output from will decrease by 0.5% for
each degree rise in temperature of the crystalline PV module. Amorphous cells
may be preferable because they experience an efficiency loss of 0.2% for each
°C rise in temperature.

Example:
Determine the loss in output from a 60Wp PV module operating at a
temperature of 50°C.
Solution:
Loss in output = 60 x 0.5/100 x (50-25) = 7.5 W
CELL EFFICIENCY AS A FUNCTION OF
TEMPERATURE
FIRST SOLAR TEMPERATURE
COEFFICIENT
 CORRELATION B/W CELL TEMP AND
AMBIENT TEMP

Tmodule (C°) = 0.943 x Tambient + 0.0195 x Irradiance - 1.528 x

WindSpeed + 0.3529

Irradiance: W/m2
Wind Speed: m/s

Photovoltaic Modules Operating Temperature Estimation Using a Simple Correlation,

International Journal of Energy Engineering Aug. 2014, Vol. 4 Iss. 4, PP. 151-158
 DESIGN EXERCISE 2 – IMAPCT OF
TEMPERATURE
What would be the loss in performance of 10 kWp
crystalline PV panels operating at cell temperature of 70°C.
SOLUTION – DE 2
 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS

Peak Power
The maximum power a PV system is likely to produce is called its peak
power (Wp). It is usually expressed as 10, 40, 60 to 160Wp

Short circuit current (Isc)

Current measured when the two poles of a PV module are connected
to a multi-meter or an ammeter i.e. 3.65 A for 60Wp module

Open circuit voltage (Voc)

Voltage of a system (for example, a battery, a PV module) when it is
disconnected from all electrical circuits i.e. 20V for 60Wp module
V-I CURVE
 V-I CURVE
Voc does not experience much variation with a change in the
irradiance level (W/m2). Voc varies between 0.5 et 0.7 V for
each cell (for example, a module with 36 cells has an open
circuit voltage Voc of 36 x 0.6 = 21.6 V)

Isc is directly proportional to the surface area of the cells (for

example, a module with 36 cells each 10 cm x 10 cm, will have
an Isc twice as large as a module composed of the same
number of cells each 10 cm x 5 cm).

Isc and power output are almost directly proportional to the

irradiance received on a module.

Example of a typical behavior of 60W module

Irradiance (W/m2) Voc (V) Isc (A) Power output
(W)
100(grey clouds at noon) 15 0.36 6
500(white clouds at noon) 19 1.8 30
1000 (clear sky at noon) 20 3.65 60
 MPP
MPPT or Maximum Power Point Tracking is algorithm included in charge
controllers used for extracting maximum available power from PV module
under certain conditions. The voltage at which PV module can produce
maximum power is called ‘maximum power point’ (or peak power voltage).
Maximum power varies with solar radiation, ambient temperature and solar
cell temperature.

Typical PV module produces power with maximum power voltage of around

17 V when measured at a cell temperature of 25°C, it can drop to around 15
V on a very hot day and it can also rise to 18 V on a very cold day.
 FILL FACTOR (FF)
Fill factor is a measure of quality of a solar cell. It is defined as the
ratio of maximum power from a solar cell to the theoretical power
(product of the open circuit voltage and short circuit current).

For a perfect solar cell the FF = 1, but parasitic resistance reduces

0.7<FF<0.95
Graphically it is the area of the largest rectangle that will fit in the I-V
curve
 CONVERSION EFFICIENCY
It is the ratio of the maximum power output delivered by a PV cell to
the input power received at a given cell operating temperature.
 LOSSES IN SOLAR PV
The power of a solar cell and therefore its efficiency is limited by factors
like:

Fundamental losses such as recombination and reflection losses

Unabsorbed radiation and excessively strong radiation
Current losses due to collection inefficiency
Shading effect
Losses due to series and shunt resistances