Energy Technology. A. Y.

2010-11

Solar Photovoltaic Energy Formulas

27
LESSON 5. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY
FORMULAS
Characteristic equation of a photovoltaic cell:
sh
mKT
I R V q
D L sh d L
I e I I I i I I
s

(
(

= =
+
1
) (
.
Open circuit voltage:
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
D
L
T
D
L
oc
I
I
mV
I
I
q
mKT
V ln ln , where
q
KT
V
T
= .
Short-circuit intensity: I
sc
I
L
.
Intensity and voltaje at the point of maximum power: ) 1 (
d
L mp
c I I

= and
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
V V
oc mp
ln
1 , where
D
L
I
I
c ln 1+ = y
1 +
=
c
c
d .
Photovoltaic cell power: P = VI.
Photovoltaic cell shape factor:
sc oc
mp mp
I V
I V
SF

= .
Photovoltaic cell efficency:
GA
P
= .
Commercial photovoltaic cell efficiency: | | ) ( 1
cell ref ref
T T + = .
Variation of photovoltaic cell power with temperature: | | T V I P
ref oc ref sc
+ ) ( 1
, ,
.
Characteristic equation of a photovoltaic module or panel:
sh
s
a
I R V
D L
R
I R V
e I I I
s
+

(
(

=
+
1 ,
where
s
N
q
mKT
a = [V], where m is the cell recombination coefficient (1 < m < 3); K is the
Boltzmanns constant (1.3810
-23
J/K); q is the electron charge (1.610
-19
C); T is the
temperature in K and N
s
is the number of cells of the module.
Inverse polarization intensity:
a
V
L D
oc
e I I

= .
Cell temperature: G
NOCT
T T
cell

800
20
+ =

[C].
Energy Technology. A. Y. 2010-11

Solar Photovoltaic Energy Formulas

28
Series resistance:
mp
oc mp
L
mp
s
I
V V
I
I
a
R
+
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
1 ln
. It is only evaluated at the reference
conditions; it does not depend on T
cell
and G.
Townsends equations to take into account the temperature effect:
ref ref
T
T
a
a
= ; | | ) (
, , ref sc i ref L
ref
L
T T I
G
G
I + = ;
(
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
T
T
a
N
T
T
I
I
ref
ref
s
ref ref D
D
1 exp
3
,

.
Coefficient of variation of the short-circuit intensity with the temperature:
1 2
1 , 2 ,
,
T T
I I
dT
dI
T sc T sc
sc
sc i

=
(

=
K
A
C
A
.
Coefficient of variation of the open circuit voltage with the temperature:
1 2
1 , 2 ,
,
T T
V V
dT
dV
T oc T oc
oc
oc v

=
(

=
K
V
C
V
.

3
,
,
, ,

+
=
ref L
ref sc i
s ref oc ref oc v
ref
I
T
N V T
a

| | V (In this expression the temperature is in K).
Simplified method to calculate a isolated PV system:
1) | |
T
H ; 2) | | D ; 3) [A], A
jk
=
k
D /
jk T
H
,
; 4) A
p,min
= minimum of the maxima of each
inclination (A
jk
); 5)
| |
| | kW/m sun standard 1
kWh/m month the of days of n.
2
2
, jk T
h
H
N = ; 6)
| |
| | h
kWh month the of days of n.
h
k
instal
N
D
P = ; 7)
panel
instal
ser
V
V
np = ; 8)
ser panel
instal
paral
np P
P
np

= .
Calculation of the storage system:
1) [Nau]; 2) Au[Wh] = max [Nau
k

k
D ]; 3) | |
100
100
Wh
PD
Au
CB = , with PD
100
= 40-70%; 4)
| |
| |
| | V
Wh
Ah
100
100
instal
V
CB
CB = ; 5) | |
| |
10
10
max
Wh
PD
DF D
CB
k
= , with PD
10
< 20%; 6)
| |
| |
| | V
Wh
Ah
10
10
instal
V
CB
CB = .