2016 7th International Renewable Energy Congress (IREC)

Performance Comparison of Silicon PV Module

Between Standard Test and Real Test Conditions
Olfa BEL HADJ BRAHIM KECHICHE

Marwa HAMZA, Habib SAMMOUDA

Laboratoire dEnergie et de Matriaux (LR11ES34)

Universit de Sousse, ESSTHSousse, Rue Abbassi Lamine,
4011 HSousse, Tunisia.
belhajbrahimolfa@yahoo.fr

Laboratoire dEnergie et de Matriaux (LR11ES34)

Universit de Sousse, ESSTHSousse, Rue Abbassi Lamine,
4011 HSousse, Tunisia.
marwahamza911@gmail.com,
habib.sammouda@fsm.rnu.tn

Abstract The purpose of the work was to evaluate and compare

the performances of silicon PV module under standard test and
real test conditions.
This paper provides a detailed analytical model for
characterizing the electrical performance of silicon photovoltaic
module. The simulation results have been performed in
MATLAB/Simulink environment.
We proved that difference between the standard test and real test
conditions, is attributed to various factors including effect of
temperature variations and consequently some adjustments
should be considered in electrical parameters to improve the PV
module efficiency.

Keywords- PV Module, one-diode model, MATLAB/Simulink,

Performance, Standard Test Conditions (STC), Real Test
Conditions (RTC).

standard test and real test conditions according to irradiance

and temperature variations.
For these purposes, we proceeded in this work, to develop
and detail the theoretical background related to the
photovoltaic module and for the equivalent one-diode circuit of
a solar cell. The PV module in MATLAB/Simulink
environment is implemented and simulation results are
obtained for standards test conditions using the electrical
characteristics of a Multicrystalline BP MSX 60 Photovoltaic
Module of 60-Watt. Finally, the simulation results obtained in
real test conditions are presented and discussed by comparing
for STC one.
II.

MATHEMATICAL PHOTOVOLTAIC MODEL

A. PV cell modeling
I.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, the use of solar energy reaches many domestic

and industrial installations due to its free of pollution, long life
time, low maintenance and to the depletion of oil, [1, 2, 3].
Therefore, the understanding of PV module characteristics is
essential to improve the energetic efficiency of PV systems.
The electrical characteristics I-V of photovoltaic module are
provided by the manufacturers datasheet only under standard
test conditions (STC), where the light source magnitude and
spectral characteristics and temperature are fixed successively
at 1000 W/m2, AM1.5 and 25C.
As its known some studies are focalized on the amelioration of
PV efficiency by acting on the materials cells or in electrical
parameters [4] and particularly for concentrated PV (CPV)
applications [3, 4, 5].
In effect, the preceding values, which are the reference values,
cannot be explicitly used to achieve the real performance of PV
module. Based on some results [5, 6, 7] proved that electrical
characteristics I-V is highly dependent of irradiance and
temperature variations, we think that its necessary to evaluate
and compare the performances of silicon PV module under

Many equivalent circuits have been proposed in the

literature in order to determine the electrical characteristics I-V
of photovoltaic cell. In our case, the one-diode model which
delivers a simplified description of the solar cell is considered,
[1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10].
The equivalent electrical circuit of a PV cell is given by
Fig.1.
Rs ,cell

I ph ,cell

I d ,cell

I Rsh ,cell
D

Rsh ,cell

Figure 1. Equivalent one-diode circuit of a solar cell

Basing on Fig. 1 and using Kirchhoffs first law, the cell

output current, denoted I , is given by the Eq. (1):

I I ph ,cell I d ,cell I Rsh ,cell

(1)

I sref ,cell

where

I ph ,cell is the photocurrent produced by the incident light;

I d ,cell is the diode current;

B. Mathematical expression of cell parameters

In order to determine the I-V relationship, the cell
parameters of I ph ,cell , I d ,cell and I Rsh ,cell must be defined.

I ph ,cell is calculated according to

Eq. (2) as a function of irradiance and temperature values, [4].

I ph ,cell

G
I sc _ ref Ki .T
Gref

qEg 1 1

exp

nK Tref T

I sc ,cell
V
exp oc ,cell
nVth ,cell

(4)

(5)

where

Voc ,cell is the Open-Circuit voltage of photovoltaic cell (V);

I Rsh ,cell is the current absorbed by the shunt resistor.

The photovoltaic current

I s ,cell

T
I sref ,cell
T
ref

(2)

K v : Cells Short-Circuit voltage temperature Coefficient

(mV/ C);
V is the cell output voltage (V);
n is the diode ideality or quality factor, dependent on cell
materials and temperature variation;
q is the Electron charge (1.602 10-19 C);
K is the Boltzmann constant (1.38 x 10 -23 J/K);
Eg is the material band gap energy.

I Rsh ,cell is the current absorbed by the shunt resistor, given

by Eq. (6):

where

T T Tref
T : Cell operating temperature (K);
Tref : Reference cell operating temperature (25 C=298.15 K);
G : Irradiance on the Cell Surface (W/m2);
Gref : Reference irradiance on the Cell Surface (1000W/m2);

I sc _ ref : Short-Circuit Current of photovoltaic cell under STC

I Rsh ,cell

V IRs ,cell
Rsh ,cell

(6)

Rsh ,cell is the cell shunt resistor.

Then, the cell output current, resulting from equations Eq.
(1), Eq. (3) and Eq. (6), is given by Eq. (7):

(A);

K i : Cells Short-Circuit Current temperature Coefficient

(mA/C).
I d ,cell is the diode current, modeled by the equation for a
Shockley diode Eq. (3), [10]:

V IRs ,cell
I d ,cell I s ,cell exp
1
nVth ,cell

V IRs,cell V IR
s ,cell
I I ph,cell I s,cell exp
1
Rsh,cell
nVth,cell

(7)

Therefore, the I-V and P-V cell characteristics can be

obtained by Eq. (7) implementation.

where

The next section deals with PV module modeling in order

to make performance comparison between the standard test
and the real test conditions including temperature and
irradiance variations effects.

Vth ,cell is the thermal voltage of the cell;

C. PV module modeling

(3)

Rs ,cell is the cell series resistor.

I s ,cell is the diode saturation current, can be determined
using equations Eq. (4) and Eq. (5), [11, 12, 13]:

To obtain a significant output power to supply a variable

load, the cells must be connected in series and parallels, [5, 8,
11, 14].
PV cells in series and parallel connection forms a module.

The module output current, denoted I , is given by the Eq.

(8):
V IRs,module V IR
s ,mod ule
I I ph,module I s,module exp
1

nV
R

th,mod ule
sh,mod ule

(8)

Where

I ph ,mod ule N p * I ph ,cell ;

I s ,mod ule N p * I s ,cell ;

Vth ,mod ule N s *Vth ,cell ;

Ns
* Rs ,cell ;
Np
N
s * Rsh ,cell ;
Np

Rs ,mod ule

N s is the number of cells connected in series;

N p is the number of cells connected in parallel.

III.

PV MODULE IMPLEMENTATION

In order to evaluate and compare the performances of

silicon PV module under standard test and real test conditions,
a Multicrystalline BP MSX 60 Photovoltaic Module of 60Watt is considered. The manufacturer specifications of
considered model are provided by [16] and will be used for
simulation study.
Based on Eq. (8), the solar module model was implemented
in MATLAB/Simulink environment, as shown in Fig.2.
The solar module model inputs are successively, the
operating solar module temperature, the irradiation, the cell
series resistor, the cell shunt resistor and the diode ideality
factor.
Also this model requires the BP MSX 60 Electrical
Parameters at STC in order to determine its electrical
characteristics such as the I-V and P-V characteristics.

Figure 2. Solar Module modeling with MATLAB/Simulink

IV.

PV MODULE PERFORMANCE UNDER STANDARD TEST

CONDITIONS

At STC, the module series resistor and the module shunt

resistor of BP MSX 60 are measured by [11] and are fixed
successively at Rs ,mod ule 0.2 and Rsh ,mod ule 304.83 .
In this case, the Si band gap Eg is fixed at Eg 1.12 eV .
The diode ideality factor n is fixed at n 1.3 .
The I cc ,mod ule and the Voc ,mod ule are extracted from the
manufacturer specifications.
The simulation results are shown below Fig.3, Fig.4, Fig.5,
Fig.6, Fig.7, Fig.8, Fig.9 and Fig.10.
4
3.798A

Current (A)

Rsh ,mod ule

2
1
21.07V

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

Figure 3. I-V characteristic of PV module at STC

( G 1000W / m 2 , T 298.15K )

25

70

59.39W

40
30

2
1

20
10
0

1.3
1.5

1.8

50

Current (A)

Power (W)

60

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

25
Figure 7.

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

25

I-V curves for 4 different diode ideality factors

Figure 4. P-V characteristic of PV module at STC

( G 1000W / m 2 , T 298.15K )

0.66

8.624e 7 A

Figure 8.

10

15

20

25

I-V curves for 4 different diode saturation currents

10

15

20

25

Voltage (V)
Figure 5.

I-V curves for 4 different module series

resistors Rs ,mod ule

4
Current (A)

2.156e 7 A

Voltage (V)

4.132e A

0.22

0.44

1.078e 7 A
7

Current (A)

Current (A)

Current (A)

Fig.3 and Fig.4 represent successively the I-V and

P-V characteristics for PV module. The I-V and P-V
simulation results and considered manufacturer
specifications show a good agreement in terms of
Voc ,mod ule , I sc ,mod ule and Pmax .

3
2

250W / m 2

100
50

Figure 9.

1
0

Figure 6.

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

I-V curves for 4 different module shunt

resistors Rsh ,mod ule

10

15

20

Voltage (V)

3
2

1000W / m 2

500W / m 2

3000
250

750W / m 2

25

I-V curves for 4 different irradiations G

and T 298.15 K

25

Is

V.

PV MODULE PERFORMANCE UNDER REAL TEST

CONDITIONS

273K

At real test conditions, the real/operating module

temperature is T 326.93 K and G 1000 W m 2 .

323K

348K

In this case, the module series resistor of BP MSX 60 are

strongly linked in temperature variations.

The Si band gap Eg and the diode ideality factor n are

also dependent on temperature variations, [15].

10

15

20

25

Voltage (V)
Figure 10.

I-V curves for 4 different module temperatures

and G 1000 W m 2

The Voc ,mod ule is also dependent on temperature variation.

Fig.5 show the variation of electrical module characteristic

I-V by varying the value of series resistors. The Rs ,mod ule has
large impact on the slope of the I-V curves. Then, the higher
Rs ,mod ule values reduce the power module output.
Fig.6 show the variation of electrical module characteristic
I-V by varying the value of shunt resistors Rsh ,mod ule . Contrary
to the Rs ,mod ule influence, the lower Rsh ,mod ule values reduce the
power module output

Then, to simulate the PV module in RTC, it should be take

account and implanted this equation in MATLAB/Simulink
environment.
The simulation results are shown below Fig.12 and Fig.13
represent respectively, the I-V and P-V characteristics of the
designed model.

RTC

15.25V

21.07V

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

25

Figure 11. I-V characteristic of PV module at RTC

( G 1000 W m 2 , T 326.93 K )

At constant temperature ( T 273 K ), Fig.9 presents the I-

but the Voc ,mod ule considerably increases.

STC

2
1

Fig.8 shows the variation of electrical module characteristic

I-V by varying the value of diode saturation currents I s . It is
found that there is a significant decreasing in the Voc ,mod ule .

70

59.39W

60
50

Power (W)

At constant irradiation ( G 1000W / m2 ), Fig.10 presents

the I-V curves for different module temperature value which
are 273, 298, 323 and 348 K respectively. This figure shows
that the I-V characteristics are also highly dependent on the
temperature values. Contrary to the irradiation influence, by
increasing the temperature value, the I sc ,mod ule slightly decreases

3.798A

Fig.7 show the effect of changing the diode ideality factors

n . By increasing the n value, the maximum power module
output decreases.

V curves for different module irradiation value which are 250,

500, 750 and 1000 W/m2 respectively. This figure shows the IV characteristics which are highly dependent on the irradiance
values. By increasing the irradiance value, the increase in
I sc ,mod ule is much larger than the increase in the Voc ,mod ule .

3.884A

Current (A)

Current (A)

298K

STC

41.29W

40
30

RTC

20
10
0

10
15
Voltage (V)

20

25

Figure 12. P-V characteristic of PV module at RTC

( G 1000 W m 2 , T 326.93 K )

The following simulation results and conclusions have

been reached:

REFERENCES
[1]

Increase in temperature provoke increases in the

series resistor Rs ,mod ule .

Increase in temperature provoke considerably

decreases in the open-circuit voltage of photovoltaic
module Voc ,mod ule .

Increase in temperature provoke slightly increases in

the
short-circuit
current
of
photovoltaic
module I cc ,mod ule .

[3]

Increase in temperature provoke considerably

decreases in the power energy output of photovoltaic
module.

[4]

[2]

[5]

VI.

CONCLUSION

Simulation performance evaluation of Silicon module PV

under standard test and real test conditions has been presented
in this paper.
Comparison of the simulation results at STC conditions
with considered manufacturer specifications shows good
agreement in terms of Voc ,mod ule , I cc ,mod ule and Pmax .
The electrical characteristics I-V curves, obtained from the
PV module simulation, explain clearly its dependence on the
series resistors, the shunt resistors, the diode ideality factors,
the diode saturation currents, the solar irradiance and the
operating module temperature.
We can conclude that the electrical production efficiency in
RTC decreases compared with STC. These phenomena due to
the nonlinearity of the PV module output characteristics. In
fact, in RTC, all PV module parameters are crucially
influenced by the operating module temperature T.
This paper can thus, be very useful for researchers to easily
and quickly determine the performance evaluation of Silicon
module PV for parabolic photovoltaic concentration solar
systems.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
[14]

This research project was supported by the Tunisian

Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research under
Grant LabEM ESSTHSousse - LR11ES34.

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