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 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
Modelling and Simulation of 5 Parameter Model of Solar Cell
Mohammed Asim M.A.Mallick
Electrical dept., Integral University EEE dept., Integral University Electrical dept. Integral University M.Tech (Power System
Lucknow,India Lucknow, India
Abstract— This paper defines a 5-parameter
based simulation model for a PV cell/array in
order to allow estimate the characteristics of the
cell with respect changes on environmental
parameter of temperature and irradiance.
Accurate PV module models are presented
based on the Shockley diode equation. The
general model was implemented on MATLAB
and accepts irradiance and temperature as
variable parameters and outputs the I-V
characteristic and P-V characteristic as well. In
many applications, such as solar power plants,
building integrated photovoltaic or solar tents,
the solar photovoltaic arrays might be
illuminated non-uniformly. The cause of non-
uniform illumination may be the shadow of
clouds, the trees, booms, neighbour’s houses, or
the shadow of one solar array on the other, etc.
This further leads to nonlinearities in
characteristics. The shadow of solar PV array
can cause many undesired effects. So study
regarding the issue becomes very important to
find and suggest methods and steps to be taken
to overcome this. Two solar PV modules of two
cells are developed for evaluation and
simulation under partial shading conditions and
show excellent correspondence.
Keywords—PV,5
parameter,insolation,temprature
I. INTRODUCTION
A solar panel cell basically is a p-n
semiconductor junction. When exposed to the
light, a DC current is generated. The smallest
unit is a cell which when combined in a string
i.e. either in series or parallel, form a module
which, further, in a bigger number forms an
array. The generated current varies linearly with
the solar irradiance. The equivalent electrical
38 Mohammed Asim, M.A.Mallick, Ayaz Malik, Mohd Saaqib
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Special Issue
February 2015
Ayaz Malik Mohd Saaqib
Lucknow, India UTU , Dehradun
circuit of an ideal solar cell can be treated as a
current source parallel with a diode. The solar
cells are connected in series and parallel to
create a solar array. An estimation method used
in [1] proposes that the power output of a PV
system is proportional to the insolation levels
measured for the surface of a solar cell at any
angular position. Mathematical models [2], [3]
have been used to accurately characterize the
electrical solar PV arrays.
II. 5 PARAMETER BASED MODEL OF A
SOLAR PV
CELL
A solar cell model is represented by a constant
current source and a diode as shown in Figure 1.
The light generated current, IL, is the amount of
current produced by the electron-hole pairs
generated by the impinging sunlight. This
phenomenon is called photovoltaic effect. IL
depends on the intensity of the incident solar
light [4], characteristics of the solar panel, and
the ambient temperature. The most important
electrical characteristics of a PV cell
module/array are:
Fi
gure 1: Equivalent circuit representing the 5-
Parameter model.
(a) Short Circuit current (ISC): Usually this is
associated with the light generated current IL
and is considered the same for normal levels of
 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
solar irradiance. It increases slightly with
increasing temperature. It is directly
proportional to the incident optical power. (b)
Open circuit voltage (VOC): It is logarithmically
dependent on the solar irradiance. With the
increase in temperature there is an increase in
saturation current and results in reduction of the
open circuit voltage.
The behaviour of photovoltaic (PV) cells can be
modelled with an equivalent circuit shown in
Figure 2. This circuit includes a series
resistance, RS and a diode in parallel with a
shunt resistance, Rsh. The letter “V” represents
the voltage at the load. This circuit can be used
for an individual cell[6][7], for a module
consisting of several cells, or for an array
consisting of several modules.
The output equation of the current of solar cell
……(1)
The five parameters (from which the 5-
Parameter model obtains its name) are a, IL, I0,
RS and RSh , where
a: ideality factor
IL: light current
I0: diode reverse-saturation current
RS:series resistance
Figure 2: I-V and P-V characteristics of a PV
cell
III. CALCULATION OF REFERENCE
PARAMETERS AT SRC
39 Mohammed Asim, M.A.Mallick, Ayaz Malik, Mohd Saaqib
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Special Issue
February 2015
To calculate the five reference parameters (aref,
Io,ref, IL,ref, Rs,ref, and Rsh,ref), five pieces of
information are needed at reference conditions
(usually Standard Rated Conditions, SRC,
where Tc=25 ºC and Geff=1000 W/m2). The
pieces of information are the short circuit
current (Isc0), open circuit voltage (Voc0),
current and voltage at the maximum power point
(Imp0 and Vmp0, respectively), and the slope of
the I-V curve at the short circuit point. The
subscript “0” indicates at reference conditions.
This information is usually provided by the
manufacturer.
To find the reference parameters :
At short circuit current: I=Isc0, V=0
At open circuit voltage: I=0, V=Voc0
At the maximum power point: I=Imp0,
V=Vmp0
At the maximum power point: dP/dVmp=0
At short circuit: dIsc/dV= -1/Rsh,ref
The five reference parameters (aref, Io,ref, IL,ref,
Rs,ref, and Rsh,ref) can be obtained by
simultaneously solving Equations which are
obtained by substituting the above conditions in
euation 1.Using Gauss Siedel method these
equations are solved and following values are
obtained:
a ref = 0.0392 eV
Io,ref= 0.3223∗10−6 A
IL,ref = 0.7630 A
Rs,ref = 0.03684 Ω
Rsh,ref =10 Ω
With use of above values study of PV cell is
possible only at particular reference conditions
as these parameters vary with other
environmental parameters such as irradiance and
temperature. According to theory [5] the
dependency of the 5 parameters can be
concluded as :
Ideality factor, a
The ideality factor is a linear function of cell
temperature (in Kelvin).
 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Special Issue
February 2015

Based on above equations stated a user

……….(2) interactive PV cell model based on
Light current, IL MATLAB/SIMULINK has been developed as
shown below in figure 3.
The light current (IL) parameter depends on the
effective solar irradiance (Geff), the cell
temperature (TC), the short circuit current
temperature coefficient (αIsc), and the air mass
modifier (Mam), among other parameters.

.
.(3)

Series resistance, Rs

The series resistance (Rs) parameter was

observed to depend on the effective solar
irradiance (Geff) and the cell temperature (Tc).
It controls the location of the maximum power
point, therefore controls the current and voltage
at the maximum power point. Note that the Figure 3: 5-parameter based model of PV cell
series resistance parameter does not affect the in MATLAB/SIMULINK
values of the short circuit current or the open
circuit voltage. It has four subsystems.

1. Subsystem a: contains model of equation for

… calculation of ideality factor (a) i.e eq.(2.).
(4)
Shunt resistance, Rsh
The shunt resistance (Rsh) parameter controls
the slope of the I-V curve at short circuit
conditions.. The value of Rsh has essentially no
effect on the predicted I-V curve for most of the
cell types therefore an equation to vary the shunt
resistance with operating conditions is not
necessary, hence
2. Subsystem Io: contains model of equation for
calculation for reverse saturation current Io i.e.
eq.(3).
3. Subsystem IL: contains model of equation for
calculation for photocurrent, IL , i.e. eq.(4).
4. Subsystem Rs : contains model of equation
for calculation for series resistance, Rs i.e.
eq.(5)
V. RESULT

Simulink is a graphical extension to MATLAB

for the modelling and simulation of systems. In
……(5) Simulink, systems are drawn on screen as block
IV. SIMULATION diagrams. Many elements of block diagrams are

40 Mohammed Asim, M.A.Mallick, Ayaz Malik, Mohd Saaqib

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Special Issue
February 2015

available (such as transfer functions, summing proportional to the temperature Tc, however the
junctions, etc.), as well as virtual input devices maximum power point at the PV curve
(such as function generators) and output devices decreases minutely.
(such as oscilloscopes). Simulink is integrated
with MATLAB and data can be easily
transferred between the programs.

3.1 SIMULATION OF A SOLAR CELL

MODEL:
By varying environmental parameters i.e.
insolation (Geff) and temperature (TC), which
are in W/m2 and K respectively in our
developed model for PV cell, we get different
behaviours of I-V and P-V curves. Following
are the observations obtained: Figure 5: Variation of P-V curve with respect
to Tc
a.) Varying temperature (Tc)
(b) Varying insolation (Geff):
By varying values of Tc different curves are
obtained for developed PV cell model. By varying Geff different I-V and P-V curves
I-V characteristics: I-V characteristics are are obtained for the model developed shown in
shown in the figure below: fig.3. with increase in temperature Isc increases,
but Voc does not show any significant change.
The different observed I-V and P-V
characteristics are as follows:

I-V characteristics

Geff is varied from 500 to 1000 in steps of

250,Tc being constant at 298 K, to obtain three
different V-I curves of the model developed in
fig. 3. as shown below in fig 6. as Geff is
increased Isc increases whereas Voc does not
change significantly.
Figure 4: Variation of I-V curve with respect
to Tc25

With variation in Tc the Isc does not change

however different values of Voc are observed,
as shown in figure 4. As we can see with
increasing Tc, Voc increases Geff being
constant.

P-V characteristics:
Different PV curves are obtained by varying Tc,
-
as shown in figure 5. It is observed that for a
Figure 6: Variation of I-V curve with respect
single cell, output voltage Voc is directly
to Geff

41 Mohammed Asim, M.A.Mallick, Ayaz Malik, Mohd Saaqib

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 4, Special Issue
February 2015

P-V characteristics:
Different P-V curves are obtained as shown in
fig 7, by varying Geff from 500 to 1000 in steps
of 250. It iis clearly observed that for as Geff
increases maximum power point increases on
the P-V curve, whereas there is minute change
in Voc.
Figure 7: Variation of P-V curve with respect
to Geff
VI. Conclusion
The 5-Parameter model presented in this paper
is a user interactive model which accepts data
and shows corresponding behaviour with the
help of equations to predict the output for
specified cell parameters and operating
conditions. The model requires an easy one time
calculation of the five parameters. This paper
has shown that the 5-Parameter model
constitutes a great tool for the prediction of
energy production.
cells,” Solar Energy, vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 513–
520, 1996.
[3] Dzung D Nguyen, Brad Lehman “Modelling
and Simulation Solar PV Array under
Shadow Conditions”, IEEE Compel, July
17-19, 2006.
[4] Patel H. and Agarwal V. , “MATLAB-Based
Modelling to Study the Effects of Partial
Shading on PV Array Characteristics” IEEE
Transaction on Energy Conversion, PP.- 302
Vol. 23, No. 1 , March, 2008.
[5] Soto W.D., “Improvement and Validation of
a Model for Photovoltaic Array
Performance” , MS Thesis, Chapter 3,
Energy Laboratory University of Wisconsin-
Madison,January, 2004.
[6] Akihiro Oi September , “design and
simulation of photovoltaic water pumping
system,2005
[7] I. Altas, A.M.Sharaf, 2007 “A photovoltaic
array (PVA) simulation model to use in
Matlab Simulink GUI environment.” IEEE
I-4244- 0632 -03/07.

Reference

[1] Tamura J., Nakamura H., Inoue Y., Otani

K., Kurokawa K., ”A new method of
calculating in-plane irradiation by one-
minute local solar irradiance” IEEE
Conference on Photovoltaic Energy
Conversion, vol.3, 2003.
[2] V. Quaschning and R. Hanitsch, “Numerical
simulation of current-voltage characteristics
of photovoltaic systems with shaded solar

42 Mohammed Asim, M.A.Mallick, Ayaz Malik, Mohd Saaqib

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