Matlab/Pspice Hybrid Simulation Modeling of Solar
PV Cell/Module
Yuncong Jiang*, Student Member, IEEE, Jaber A. Abu Qahouq*, Senior Member, IEEE
and Mohamed Orabi**, Senior Member, IEEE
*The University of Alabama
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA
Abstract The power generated by solar photovoltaic (PV)
module depends on surrounding irradiance, temperature
and shading conditions. Under partial shading conditions
(PSC) the power from the PV module can be dramatically
reduced and maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
control will be affected. This paper presents a hybrid
simulation model of PV cell/module and system using
Matlab/Simulink and Pspice. The hybrid simulation point (MPP) on its power-voltage (P-V) curve. In practice,
model includes the solar PV cells and the converter power
stage and can be expanded to add MPPT control and other
functions. The model is able to simulate both the I-V
characteristics curves and the P-V characteristics curves of
PV modules under uniform shading conditions (USC) and
PSC. The model is used to study different parameters
variations effects on the PV array. The developed model is
suitable to simulate several homogeneous or/and
heterogeneous PV cells or PV panels connected in series
and/or in parallel.
Keywords: Photovoltaic (PV); Model; Hybrid; Simulation;
Partial Shading; Solar; Control.
I.INTRODUCTION
The research in renewable energy has become an
increasingly important topic in the 21st century with the
problem of energy crisis becoming more and more aggravating,
resulting in increased exploitation and research for new power
energy resources such as wind, water, geothermal and solar
energy around the world [1, 2]. Solar energy is green energy,
which is inexhaustible and environmentally friendly. It is
becoming one of the most promising alternatives for
conventional energy sources. Due to this, photovoltaic solar
energy has been increasingly used to generate electric power
from sunshine [3-5].
A PV solar device, cell, or module converts solar energy
directly to electrical energy. If many cells are connected in
series and parallel, a solar photovoltaic module is formed.
Several PV solar devices are used to for a PV cell and several
cells are used to form a PV module. Solar energy obtained
from a solar PV cell is not constant all the time. The amount
978-1-4244-8085-2/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE 1244
** APEARC, South Valley University
Aswan City 81542, Egypt
of extracted power from a PV system is a function of the PV
array voltage and current set point [6-10]. Furthermore the
power is affected by external conditions like solar irradiance
and temperature. Under uniform solar irradiance level with no
partial shading, the nonlinear current-voltage (I-V)
characteristics of a PV solar module will have one optimal
operating point corresponding to a unique maximum power
since a solar module is composed of many solar cells which are
connected with each other in series and/or in parallel, if some
cells on the panel are shaded, sometimes caused by
surrounding buildings, passing cloud in the sky or birds landing
on solar panel, the P-V characteristics of solar panels becomes
very complicated as multiple maximum power points exist on
the P-V characteristic curves [12-14]. Due to the complex
behavior of a PV solar module under different illumination
conditions, it is of advantage to build a simulation model to
thoroughly investigate power, voltage and current relationship
of a PV module under varying surrounding conditions and
partial shading conditions (PSC).
The modeling of PV solar cells/modules mainly fall into
two categories: mathematical-based modeling [11-14] and
electronic components-based modeling [15, 16]. For decades,
mathematical-based models of solar cells have been developed
and simulated by computer aided mathematical software, for
instance Matlab. Mathematical-based model of solar
cell/module is programmed to obtain desire output data taking
into account of ambient temperature, solar irradiance level and
load voltage. A mathematical-based model can describe PV
cell/module accurately using complicated mathematical
algorithm. Nevertheless, the mathematical-based PV model is
inconvenient to interface with electronic power stage
components like dc-dc converters. On the other hand, the
electronics-based modeling of a PV solar cell/module can be
realized in electric/electronic circuits-based simulation
software like Pspice. The electronic components-based
models of solar cells/modules are easy to interface with the
power stage, which can also be modeled using Pspice.
However, compared to mathematical-based models, the
electronic component-based simulation models of solar
cells/modules are incapable to incorporate complete
information of surrounding conditions (cell temperature, solar
irradiance, etc.). This may affect the accuracy of the
simulation results.
This paper presents a hybrid PV cell/module simulation
model which can be used in PV system simulation and study
under PSC, non-uniform cells, and other variable conditions.
The model unitizes Matlab/Simulink and Pspice
software packages in order to have a hybrid model with
combined advantages of mathematical-based models and
electronic components-based models.
Section II briefly describes the characteristics of a solar PV
cell. Section III discusses the proposed PV cell/module hybrid
model and a basic solar system model using
Matlab/Simulink and Pspice. Section IV presents
simulation results under different shading conditions. The
conclusion is given in Section V.
II. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT OF SOLAR CELL
The well-known diode equation describes the operation of
the p-n junction solar PV cell [8, 10]. The p-n junction is
fabricated in a layer of semiconductor [8]. Being illuminated
by sun light, photons with energy greater than semiconductor
band-gap energy are absorbed by solar cell. Valence electrons
are knocked loose from the atoms in the material, creating
electron-hole pairs [9]. These carries are swept apart and form
current by the internal electric fields of the p-n junction.
A. Solar Cell Model
Fig. 1 shows a simple equivalent circuit for a PV cell [11].
The circuit includes a photo current source, a diode, a series
resistor and a parallel resistor.
Fig. 1. Practical Model of Solar Cell [11]
The PV cell output current can be defined as a function of
the output voltage of the PV cell as follows.
I = I ph I d [exp(q(V + IRs ) / kTc A 1] (V + IRs ) / Rp
(2.1)
Iph = Short-circuit current due to sunlight (photons);
Id = Current shunted through the diode;
R = Load resistance;
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I = Current through the load;
V = Voltage on the load;
R s = Parasitic series resistance;
R P = Parasitic shunt resistance;
q = Electron charge ( 1.6 10 19 C )
k = Boltzmans constant ( 1.38 10 23 J / K )
The photo current Iph is proportional to the sun irradiance a
solar cell receives and to the cell temperature, which can be
described by:
I ph = [ I sc + (Tc Tref )] G (2.2)
Where = 0.0012 Isc , which is the temperature coefficient of
short-circuit current. G is solar irradiance level ( kW / m 2 ).
B. Solar Module Model
Solar cells are connected in series and parallel to form a PV
module. Based on single cell circuit module, the voltage and
current relationship of a PV module can be represented as [13]
I = N p I ph N p I d [exp(q (V / N s + IRs / N p ) / kTc A 1]
(2.3)
( N pV / N s + IRs ) / R p
Ns and Np are the number of series and parallel connected
solar cells in a module.
C. Solar Cell/Module Model under PSC
Equation (2.3) is able to accurately model the behavior of a
solar module under Uniform Shading Conditions (USC).
However under PSC, Eq. (2.3) is unable to simulate this
condition. To account for PSC effects on solar module, instead
of using mathematical model, a Pspice electronic
components-based PV module model is developed, in which,
single solar cells are connected in series and parallel to form a
PV module. The advantage of Pspice model is that each solar
photo current is represented by a current source and PSC can
be simulated by adjusting values of current sources. However
compared to well-programmed mathematical-based model in
Matlab, the disadvantage of Pspice model is the inability to
incorporate detail surrounding condition information, thus
degrading the accuracy of the model. To combine both model
types advantages, a hybrid PV cell/module model is proposed
in this paper as presented next section.
III. PROPOSED PV CELL/MODULE MODELS
A. PV Cell Modeling
The basic circuit of a PV cell is modeled in Pspice, as
shown in Fig. 2. To account for the cell temperature and
insolation effects on the solar cell photo current, as described in
Eq. (2.2), a mathematical-based model is built for this part in
Matlab/Simulink, as shown in Fig. 3 (a) and (b).

Fig. 2. Pspice Schematic of PV cell [11]
(a)
(b)
Fig. 3. (a) Photo current Matlab/Simulink calculation
block and (b) block details
The Pspice model of solar cell and Simulink functions are
combined together using Cadance software SLPS, as
shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Proposed simulation model of PV cell
B. PV Module Modeling
To form a solar PV module, a number of solar cells are
connected in series and parallel to satisfy the voltage and
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current requirements. In this paper, a PV module with five cells
connected in one string and two strings (String I and String II)
in parallel is created in Pspice, as shown in Fig. 5. To model
the module behavior under PSC, a bypass diode is connected in
parallel with each solar cell. To input temperature and
insolation information to each cell of the PV module,
schematic is implemented as shown in Fig. 6. In
Matlab/Simulink surrounding temperature and insolation
information can be assigned to each individual solar cell to
obtain accurate photo current (each cell will have its own
current which may be different from the other cells).
Fig. 5. PV module schematic in Pspice
Fig. 6. Proposed hybrid model of PV module
C. Solar Module Interfaced with Power Converter
In practice, a PV module will be connected to a power
converter to supply power to the load. A basic solar PV system
is shown is Fig. 7. The proposed solar PV module model is
connected to a buck converter (for example) modeled in
Pspice (it could also be modeled in Matlab/Simulink).
The duty cycles of the controller for the converter can be
provided by control block designed in Matlab. Furthermore,
for future research advanced control function such as MPPT
can be realized in Matlab/Simulink.
 Fig. 7. Proposed simulation model of PV module
IV.SIUMLATION RESULTS OF PROPOSED MODEL
A. Solar Cell Simulation Results
Fig. 8 shows the typical I-V and P-V characteristics curves
of the PV solar cell hybrid model shown in Fig. 4. The cell is
illuminated under different levels of solar irradiance (
0.4kW / m 2 to 1.0kW / m 2 with 0.2kW / m 2 increments),
assuming temperature remains constant. As seen from Fig. 8,
the photo current and output power of the cell increase with
higher solar irradiance.
Fig. 8. Characteristics curves of PV cell under USC using
the hybrid model
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B. Solar Module under USC
The hybrid model of PV module shown in Fig. 5 is
simulated under USC (solar irradiance: 0.2kW / m 2 to
1.0kW / m 2 with 0.2kW / m 2 increments). Every cell in the
PV module is equally illuminated. As shown in Fig. 9, the
curves are linearly magnified compared to the curves in Fig.
8 because more cells are connected in series and in parallel.
As seen from the figure, under USC there is one unique peak
power value under different irradiance levels.
Fig. 9. Characteristics curves of PV module under USC
using the hybrid model
C. Solar Module under PSC
Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show the proposed PV module
characteristics curves obtained from the hybrid model when
one cell and two cells on string I are under varying solar
irradiance ( 0.2kW / m 2 to 1.0kW / m 2 with 0.2kW / m 2
increments). In both figures, the P-V curves are showing the
trend for having multiple peaks phenomenon. However, this
phenomenon is not significant under these conditions. The
output power from the module when only one PV cell is
shaded is higher than it is when two cells are shaded.
Fig. 10. Hybrid model simulation results when one cell is
shaded under PSC
Fig. 11. Hybrid model simulation results when two cells in
one string are shaded under PSC
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Fig. 12 shows the I-V and P-V curves when four cells
from string I are shaded with 0.2kW / m 2 , 0.4kW / m 2 ,
0.6kW / m 2 and 0.8kW / m 2 irradiance, respectively. The
solar irradiance of the last cell is varied from 0.2kW / m 2 to
1.0kW / m 2 . The multiple power peaks phenomenon is
clearly observed in this case. Fig. 13 shows the curves when
one cell on each parallel string of the PV module is shaded.
One cell on string II is under 0.2kW / m 2 irradiance and the
irradiance of the cell on string I is varied from 0.2kW / m 2 to
1.0kW / m 2 with 0.2kW / m 2 increments. In Fig. 13 the two
peak power values are clearly far from each other, indicating
that the multi-peak phenomenon is more significant when
cells from different strings are shaded.
Fig. 12. Hybrid model simulation results when cells from
String I are shaded under PSC
Fig. 13. Hybrid model simulation results when two cells in
parallel strings are shaded under PSC
D. Solar Module with Power Converter
When a PV module is connected to a power converter, the
module voltage and current is determined by load voltage
and the duty cycle of the power converter. By adjusting the
duty cycle, the output power from the PV module can be
varied. Furthermore, this feature is utilized in maximum
power point tracking techniques. The output power behavior
of a PV module with variable duty cycles are of crucial
importance in a solar system. To ensure the solar system will
work under all conditions, the output power from PV module
is recorded with power converter duty cycle scaling from 0
to 1 using the hybrid model.
Fig. 14 shows that by tuning the power converter duty
cycle under USC with different solar irradiance levels, one
unique MPP can be tracked on the P-D (D indicates Duty
Cycle) characteristics curve. This indicates that a
conventional MPPT method will work efficiently under
USC. However, in Fig. 15, when two cells of each string are
shaded under different solar irradiance levels, multiple power
peaks on the curve exist. Fake MPPs exists on the P-D curve
when duty cycles are close to 0.1 and 0.6 respectively due to
PSC effects on the PV module. The fake power peaks may
lead to wrong tracking of MPP thus reducing the output
power from the solar PV module.

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1kW/m^2 V.CONCLUSION
70 The paper presents a Pspice and Matlab/Simulink
0.4kW/m^2
hybrid simulation model of PV cells/modules. The
60 0.6kW/m^2 simulation model is capable of predicting the behavior of
PV Module Power (P)

the PV cell/module under uniform and non-uniform

50
insolation. The PV cell/module and power converter is
designed in Pspice, due to the softwares simplicity and
40
accuracy in circuit design. To perform advanced duty cycle
control of power converter, the PWM controller for power
30
converter can be designed using Matlab/Simulink. The
hybrid solar system model also serves as a good tool for
20
future research in maximum power point tracking technique
(which will be implemented in the power converter
10
controller using Matlab/Simulink) in solar system under
PSC.
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Duty Cycle (D) This work is sponsored in part by the U.S. - Egypt
Science and Technology Joint Fund in cooperation with
Fig. 14 Power versus converter duty cycle under USC U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under USDA
Project # 58-3148-0-204 and Egyptian Science and
Technology Development Funds (STDF) under STDF
45 project # 1954. This work is also supported in part by The
2 cells 0.8
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, USA. Any opinions,
40 kW/m^2 findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
35 2 cells 0.4 this material are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies.
PV Module Power (P)

kW/m^2
30
25
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20
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