2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

A PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL MODEL IN MATLAB/SIMULINK Shivananda Pukhrem ,MSc.

[email protected],[email protected]
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Program: Renewable Energy System Wroclaw University of Technology, 27 Wybrzee Wyspiaskiego St., 50-370 Wrocaw, Poland Abstract- A circuit based simulation model for a PV cell for estimating the IV characteristic curves of photovoltaic panel with respect to changes on environmental parameters (temperature and irradiance) and cell parameters (parasitic resistance and ideality factor).This paper could be used to analyze in the development of MPPT (maximum power point tracking) algorithm. Using a Shockley diode equation, an accurate simulink PV panel model is developed. 60W Solarex MSX60 PV panel is chosen for evaluating the developed model. Index terms -Photovoltaic (PV), Shockley diode, irradiance, Matlab/Simulink, IV and PV curves & MPPT

II. Physics of Photovoltaic cell A simple solar cell consist of solid state p-n junction fabricated from a semiconductor material (usually silicon).In dark, the IV characteristic of a solar cell has an exponential characteristic similar to that of a diode[5]. However when the solar energy (photons) hits on the solar cell, energy greater than the band gap energy of the semiconductor, and release electrons from the atoms in the semiconductor material, creating electron-hole pairs [6].The charged carrier are moved apart under the influence of internal electric fields of the p-n junction and hence a current proportional to the incident photon radiation is developed. This phenomenon is called photovoltaic effect, first observed by A.E Becquerel in 1839.When the cell is short circuited, these current flows in the external circuit but when open circuited, this current is shunted internally by the intrinsic p-n junction diode. In this paper, a variable load is connected in the external short circuit. The complete model is available in [8]. A. A PV cell model A simplest equivalent circuit of a solar cell is a current source in parallel with a diode. The output of the current source is directly proportional to the solar energy (photons) that hits on the solar cell (photocurrent ). During darkness, the solar cell is not an active device; it works as a diode, i.e. p-n junction. It produces neither a current nor a voltage. However, if it is allowed to connect to an external source (large voltage) it

I. Introduction Photovoltaic (PV) energy has become one of the promising technologies to use as distributed generators [1].In PV plant, the optimum efficiency is affected mainly by three factors: the efficiency of the PV panel (in commercial PV panels it is between 8-15 %[2]), the efficiency of the inverter (9598%[3]) and the efficiency of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm (which is over 98%[4]).Improving the efficiency of panels and inverter is not easy as it depends on the technology availability and expenses, however improving the MPPT algorithm is an inexpensive way. This paper allows a researcher to develop a better MPPT algorithm by understanding the PV panel behavior under different conditions (environmental as well as the cell parameters).

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

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generates a current , called diode (D) current or diode current. The diode determines IV characteristic.

5.

(5)

6. 7. 8.

(6) (7) (8)

Used V. Nomenclature from page-6 for the (1)-(8) equations variables. Fig 2 shows the characteristic of IV curve. The net current I is obtained from the photo current Iph and the diode current Id [11].
Fig: 1 Circuit diagram of a PV cell [9].

The circuit diagram of a PV cell is shown above in Fig 1.Accurate simulation is obtained after considering the following parameters: Temperature dependence of the diode reserved saturation current Is. Temperature dependence photo current Iph. of the
Fig: 2 Characteristic of IV curve from Iph and [11].

B. IV curve for a PV cell

Series resistance Rs [9] (internal losses due to the current flow) which gives a more accurate shape between the maximum power point and the open circuit voltage. Shunt resistance Rsh [9], in parallel with the diode, this corresponds to the leakage current to the ground.

Fig: 3 Current-Voltage (IV) curve for a PV cell [9].

Equations which define the model of a PV cell are given below [9], [10]: 1. 2. 3. 4. (1) (2) (3) (4)

A general I-V characteristic of the solar cell for a given ambient irradiation G and fixed cell temperature T is shown in Fig 3.For a certain resistive load, the load characteristic . Power is a straight line with slope delivered to the load depends on the value of the resistance only. In some cases if the R load is very small; the PV cell operates in the M-N region of the IV curve (Fig3), the PV cell act as a constant current source, which is almost equivalent to a short circuit current.

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

However, if the R load is large, the PV cell operates in the P-S region of the IV curve, the PV cell act as a constant voltage source almost equivalent to the open circuit voltage [9].A PV cell is characterized by the following fundamental parameters w.r.t Fig3 1. Short circuit current: = (Greatest value of the current generated by a PV cell, which is produced by the short circuit condition: V=0. 2. Open circuit voltage is a voltage drop across the diode D when the generated current I=0.It presumes the voltage of the PV cell in the night and it is expressed by (2). 3. Maximum power point is the operating point in Fig 3,where the power dissipated in the resistive load is maximum: 4. Maximum efficiency is the ratio of the maximum power and the incident solar energy (photons). where is the ambient irradiation and A is the PV cell area. 5. Fill factor (FF) is the ratio of the maximum power that can be delivered to the load and the theoretical maximum power which is the product of and .FF is a measure of real I-V characteristic which value much be higher than 0.7 for a good PV cell. However FF decreases as the cell temperature increases. The open circuit voltage increases logarithmically with the ambient irradiation where as the short circuit current is a linear function of the ambient irradiation. The prominent effect with increasing the PV cells temperature is the linear decrease of the open circuit voltage, hence making the PV cell less efficient. The short circuit current slightly increases with the cell temperature.

C. Consideration of environmental parameters and cell parameters in PV cell model i. Environmental parameters (temperature and irradiance): The influence of the cell temperature T and the ambient irradiation G on the cell characteristics can be obtained from the model equations. From equation (7) photo current (A) is a function of the ambient irradiation G (W/ ) and from equation (2) cell temperature (K) is linear decrease of the . At STC (Standard Test Condition, G= 1 kW/m at spectral distribution of AM =1.5; = 25C) = from (7) which is the greatest current, since = 25C for all test conditions. From (7) as G increases the increases but from (2) as the decreases. Influence increases the of , which is the change in panel per C at temperatures other than 25C, in (7) is greater when changes from (=25C). ii. Cell parameters (parasitic resistance and ideality factor): Resistive effects in solar cells reduce the efficiency of the solar cell by dissipating power in the resistances. The most common parasitic resistances are series resistance and shunt resistance whose key impact is to reduce the fill factor. Both the magnitude and impact of series and shunt resistance depends on the geometry of the solar cell, at the operating point of the solar cell. It is measured in . For an ideal condition (ideal diode characteristic), and [10]. Series resistance in a solar cell has three causes: the movement of current through the emitter and base of the solar cell; the contact resistance between the metal contact and the silicon; and the resistance of the top and rear metal contacts. A straight forward of estimating the series resistance from a

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

solar cell is to find the slope of the IV curve at the point [12]. Significant power losses caused by the presence of a shunt resistance are typically due to manufacturing defects, rather than poor solar cell design. An estimate for the value of the of a solar cell can be determined from the slope of the IV curve near the point [12]. The ideality factor n of a diode is a measure of how closely the diode follows the ideal diode equation. The ideal diode equation assumes that all the recombination occurs via band to band or recombination via traps in the bulk areas from the device (i.e. not in the junction).However recombination does occur in other ways and in other areas of the device. This recombinations produce ideality factors n that deviate from the ideal [12]. D. A PV panel simulation model Considering the environmental and cell parameters, a PV panel (Solarex MSX 60 W) model based on equations (1)-(8) and Tables. (1, 2) is developed in MATLAB/SIMLINK with a variable load resistance at the output. To begin, typical electrical characteristics of 60W Solarex MSX60 [13] shown in Table 1.is used as an initial declaration value before simulating.
Table 1: Typical Electrical Characteristics [13] Parameters Panel MSX-60 Max. power Pmpp,at STC 60 W Voltage @Pmax(Vmpp) ,at STC 17.1 V Current @ Pmax(Impp) ,at STC 3.5 A Guaranteed minimum Pmax 58 W Short-circuit current (Isc) 3.8 A Open-circuit voltage (Voc) 21.1 V Temperature coefficient of -(8010)mV/C open-circuit voltage, KV Temperature coefficient of (0.0650.015)%/C short-circuit current, KI Temperature coefficient of power, (0.50.05)%/C KP No. of polycrystalline silicon 36 solar cells, C Band-gap energy of the 1.12eV cell(silicon)

Now in Fig: 4 depict the set up of PV panel simulation model.

Fig: 4 A PV cell simulation set up

Also some calculated data for Solarex MSX60W [13] which is important for initial declaration and is shown in Table.2
Table 2: The calculated data of the parameters for the Solarex MSX-60 at 25C,A.M 1.5, and 1 kW/ [14] Parameters Calculated Values 2.002 x A 3.8 A 0.18 n 360.002 1.36

III. Simulation results and n After changing , different results are obtained. Table.3 shows the calculated data from the simulated model [8] at STC.Table.3 can be compared with Table.1 for evalating the simulation results.And Fig: 5 and Fig: 6 shows the validation of the simulated model.
Table 3: The calculated data from the simulated model for Solarex MSX-60 at STC Parameters Calculated values Peak Power (Pmpp) 59.39 W Peak Voltage (Vmpp) 16.65 V Peak Current (Impp) 3.568 A
Power vs Voltage curve at STC 60 50 40
X: 16.65 Y: 59.39

Power W

30 20 Power vs Voltage 10 0

10 Volatge V

15

20

Fig: 5 Power vs Voltage curve showing the Pmpp and Vmpp as Y and X coordinate respectively at STC.

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

Current vs Voltage curve at STC 4

X: 16.65 Y: 3.568

Fig: 9 shows the IV curves at different under STC with =360 ohm.
Under STC with Rp=360 ohm and diff. parasitic series resistor(Rs) 4 3.5 Rs=0 ohm Rs=0.18 ohm Rs=0.36 ohm Rs=0.54 ohm Rs=0.72 ohm

Current A

Current vs Voltage
Current A

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 5 10 Volatge V 15 20

10 15 Volatge V

20

25

Fig: 6 Current vs Voltage curve showing the Impp and Vmpp as Y and X coordinate respectively at STC.

25

Fig: 7 shows the IV curves at different irradiance G (W/ ) with constant =25C and AM=1.5.
Top=25C and different Irradiance 4 3.5 3 2.5
Current A

Fig: 9 IV curves at different

Fig: 10 shows the IV curves at different under STC with =0.18 ohm.
Under STC with Rp=360 ohm and diff. parasitic shunt resistor(Rp) 4 3.5 3
Current A
2

G=1000 W/m2 G=800 W/m G=600 W/m2 G=400 W/m2 G=200 W/m2

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 5 10 Volatge V 15 20

Rp=5 ohm Rp=10 ohm Rp=50 ohm Rp=360 ohm Rp=1000 ohm

2 1.5 1 0.5 0

10 Volatge V

15

20

25

25

Fig: 7 IV curves at different G

Fig: 10 IV curves at different

Fig: 8 shows the IV curves at different (C) with constant G=1000 W/ and AM=1.5.
Under G=1000 W/sq.m and different Top 4 3.5 3
Current A

Fig: 11 shows the IV curves at different under STC with =0.18 ohm and =360 ohm.
Under STC with Rs=0.18 ohm Rp=360 ohm and at different n 4 3.5 3 2.5 n=1.18 n=1.36 n=1.54 n=1.72 n=1.90

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 5 10 Volatge V 15 20

Top=0C Top=25C Top=50C Top=75C Top=100C

Current A

2 1.5 1 0.5 0

25

10 Volatge V

15

20

25

Fig: 8 IV curves at different Top

Fig: 11 IV curves at different n

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

IV. Conclusion From the simulation results which are depicted in figures (9)-(11), the variables , , , and n which affects the performance of a PV panel is studied thoroughly. In addition to it, these results could be used to develop the MPPT algorithm by understanding how these variables work. The ideal condition for obtaining the maximum power from the PV panel are =25C, A.M=1.5, =0.18 ohm, and n=1.36 which are shown in Fig: 5, Fig: 6 and Fig: 7 (with legend G=1000 W/ , blue color). This ideal condition is also specified in the Solarex MSX-60 datasheet [13].Every manufacture intends to produce their PV panel in the ideal condition as mentioned above. Hence this paper is a summary for understanding the behavior of PV panel with change of the said variables and also in estimating the IV curves under such changes. V. Nomenclature
STC: Standard Test Condition, G= 1kW/ distribution of AM=1.5 =25C : Solar irradiance ratio = : Thermal Voltage, V : Boltzmanns constant, 1.38e-23 : Cell operating temperature in C : Cell temperature at 25C : Electron Charge constant, 1.6e-19 C : Diode reversed saturation current, A : Diode reversed saturation current at I: Output current from the PV panel, A : Shunt current, A V: Output voltage from the PV panel, V n: Diode ideality factor,1.36 C: No of cells in a PV panel, 36 : No of PV panel in series & parallel A.M= Air mass coefficient. at spectral

VI. References
[1] Gudimetla, B. Katiraei, F. ; Aguero, J.R. ; Enslin, J.H.R. ; Alatrash, H. Integration of micro-scale photovoltaic distributed generation on power distribution systems: Dynamic analyses, Transmission and Distribution Conference and Exposition (T&D), 2012 IEEE PES. [2] Trends in photovoltaic applications. Survey report of selected IEA countries between 1992 and 2009, International Energy Agency, Report IEAPVPS Task 1 T1-19:2010, 2010

[3] Sunny Family 2010/2011 - the Future of Solar Technology, SMA product catalogue,2010 [4] L. Piegari, R. Rizzo, "Adaptive perturb and observe algorithm for photovoltaic maximum power point tracking," Renewable Power Generation, IET, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 317-328, July 2010. [5] G. Walker, "Evaluating MPPT converter topologies using a MATLAB PV model, Journal of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Australia,IEAust, vol.21, No. 1, 2001, pp.49-56. [6] Lorenzo, E. (1994), Solar Electricity Engineering of Photovoltaic Systems, Artes Graficas Gala, S.L., Spain. [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._Becquerel [8] http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexch ange/41537-a-photovoltaic-panel-model-inmatlabsimulink [9] Francisco M. Gonzlez-Longat - 2do congreso iberoamericano de estudiantes de ingeniera elctrica, electrnica y computacin, Model of Photovoltaic Module in Matlab (II CIBELEC 2005). [10] J.A. Ramos-Hernanz,J.J. Campayo ,J. Larranaga , E. Zulueta ,O. Barambones ,J. Motrico ,U. Fernandez Gamiz, I. Zamora, Two photovoltaic cell simulation models in Matlab/Simulink (IJTPE), Iss. 10, Vol. 4, No. 1, Mar. 2012 [11] Marcelo Gradella Villalva, Jonas Rafael Gazoli, and Ernesto Ruppert Filho. Comprehensive Approach to Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Arrays -IEEE Transactions on power electronics, vol. 24, no. 5, May 2009 [12] http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/solar-celloperation/ [13] http://californiasolarcenter.org/ssh.html/newssh/pd fs/Solarex-MSX64.pdf [14] Dominique Bonkoungou, Zacharie Koalaga,Donatien Njomo, Modeling and Simulation of photovoltaic module considering single-diode equivalent circuit model in MATLAB- (IJETAE), Iss.3 Vol. 3, March 2013

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

Report on general overview of the implemented simulation model

I. Introduction A simulation PV panel model based on 60W Solarex MSX60 is developed using a single diode design. Many research papers on single diode designed are presented []. In this report, a detailed construction and analysis of the said PV panel will present. To begin, typical electrical characteristics of 60W Solarex MSX60 [1]-[4] shown in Table 1.is used as an initial declaration value before simulating.
Table 1: Typical Electrical Characteristics []

5.

(5)

6. 7. 8.

(6) (7) (8)

Nomenclature for the above variables in equations are given below,

STC: Standard Test Condition, G= 1kW/ distribution of AM=1.5 =25C : Solar irradiance ratio = : Thermal Voltage, V : Boltzmanns constant, 1.38e-23 at spectral

Parameters
Max. power Pmax Voltage @Pmax(Vmp) Current @ Pmax(Imp) Guaranteed minimum Pmax Short-circuit current (Isc) Open-circuit voltage (Voc) Temperature coefficient of open-circuit voltage, KV Temperature coefficient of short-circuit current, KI Temperature coefficient of power, KP No. of polycrystalline silicon solar cells, C Band-gap energy of the cell(silicon)

Panel MSX-60
60 W 17.1 V 3.5 A 58 W 3.8 A 21.1 V -(8010)mV/C (0.0650.015)%/ C (0.50.05)%/C 36 1.12eV
,

: Diode current
: Cell operating temperature in C : Cell temperature at 25C : Electron Charge constant, 1.6e-19 C : Diode reversed saturation current, A : Diode reversed saturation current at I: Output current from the PV panel, A : Shunt current, A : Phase Current, A

II. Modeling From the said research paper [1]-[4], an important equation to model a PV panel with reference to 60W Solarex MSX60 is given below. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. (1) (2) (3) (4)

V: Output voltage from the PV panel, V n: Diode ideality factor,1.36 C: No of cells in a PV panel, 36 : No of PV panel in series & parallel

Following figures depict the corresponding equations as given above .They are shown below:
T hermal Vol tage Eqn [k]

[T op]

[Vt]

[q]

Fig: 1 Thermal voltage

(eqn 1)

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

[V]

Diode Current Eqn

Phase Current Eqn [Gk] [KI] [Isc]

[I]

[Top]
[Rs] e u [Id] [n] [Vt] 1 [Is] Diode current

[Iph] Phase current

[Tref]

Fig: 6 Phase Current

[Iph]

(eqn 7)

[C] [Ns]

[Np]

Load Current Eqn

[Np] [I]

Fig: 2 Diode current

1 [Tref]

(eqn 3)

[Ish]

Reversed saturation Current Eqn

[Id]

1 [Top]

Fig: 7 Output current from the PV panel I (eqn 8)

[Irs]

[Top]

[Tref]

[q]

[Is] Reversed saturation current

[Eg] eu [k]

The voltage V (shown in green) is developed by loading variable resistor across the PV panel terminal. Hence the output current I (shown in green) flow through this variable resistor which allows in obtaining the most important I-V characteristics of a PV panel. The connection arrangement is given in [4].

[n]

Fig: 3 Diode reversed saturation current

[Voc] Reversed Saturation Current at Top Eqn

(eqn 4)

[q]

[k] [Isc] [Irs] [C] e [Top] 1 [n]

[V]
V

Fig: 8 Mode of connection [4].

Irs

The connection arrangement of the simulation model is shown below.

I + f(x)=0 Solver Configuration Ramp Controlled Current Source Diode + Current Sensor
+

PS S

Fig: 4 Diode reversed saturation current at

Shunt Current Eqn [V]

(eqn 5)

G G

S PS

PS

Variable Resistor
V -

Voltage Sensor

Irradiance(p.u) (W/m2) 25+273.15 Temperature_op 0.18

Rs Top I

[V] S PS

S PS

[I] [Rp] [Rs]

[Ish] Shunt current

Rs 360.002 Rp
Rp

Electrical Reference

Fig: 5 Shunt Current

(eqn 6)

1.36 n

PV panel

Fig: 9 A Complete model for simulation.

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

The signal routing GOTO and FROM is used for the above models from Simulink library browser. A SimElectronics library is used to model the complete simulation scheme shown in Fig 9. The complete .mdl file of the above simulation can be downloaded from [5]. III. Simulation model validation As mention in the paper A PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL MODEL IN MATLAB/SIMULINK following simulation results is obtaining which could be compared with the Solarex MSX 60 PV panel. For an instance comparison on the basis of variation of I-V characteristic curve under the change of operating temperature at STC is given below.

From the figures 9 and 10, it can be concluded that at 25C under STC both the characteristic curve behaves the same. And it also be noted that at 25C under STC, from figure 10 the = 21.06 V which is closed to 21.1 V as mentioned in table .1 Table.2 shows the calculated data from the simulated model [6] at STC.Table.2 can be compared with Table.1 for evalating the simulation results.
Table. 2 The calculated data from the simulated model for Solarex MSX-60 at STC

Parameters Peak Power (Pmpp) Peak Voltage (Vmpp) Peak Current (Impp)

Calculated values 59.39 W 16.65 V 3.568 A

The following figures are obtained after simulation of the model for Solarex MSX-60 at STC.
Power vs Voltage curve at STC 60 50 40
X: 16.65 Y: 59.39

Power W

30 20 Power vs Voltage 10 0

Fig: 10 Solarex MSX-60 I-V Characteristic curves at STC.

Under G=1000 W/sq.m and different Top 4 3.5

10 Volatge V

15

20

Fig: 12 Power vs Voltage curve showing the Pmpp and Vmpp.as Y and X coordinate respectively.
Current vs Voltage curve at STC 4

3 2.5
Current A

Top=100C Top=75C Top=50C Top=25C Top=0C

X: 21.06 Y: 0.0372

X: 16.65 Y: 3.568

2 1.5 1 0.5 0

Current A

Current vs Voltage

10 12 Volatge V

14

16

18

20

22

10 15 Volatge V

20

25

Fig: 11 Simulated Solarex MSX-60 I-V Characteristic curves at STC

Fig: 13 Current vs Voltage curve showing the Impp and Vmpp as Y and X coordinates respectively.

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2nd International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications

Madrid, Spain, 20-23 October 2013

VI. References
[1] Francisco M. Gonzlez-Longat - 2do congreso iberoamericano de estudiantes de ingeniera elctrica, electrnica y computacin, Model of Photovoltaic Module in Matlab (II CIBELEC 2005). [2] J.A. Ramos-Hernanz,J.J. Campayo ,J. Larranaga , E. Zulueta ,O. Barambones ,J. Motrico ,U. Fernandez Gamiz, I. Zamora, Two photovoltaic cell simulation models in Matlab/Simulink (IJTPE), Iss. 10, Vol. 4, No. 1, Mar. 2012 [3] Dominique Bonkoungou, Zacharie Koalaga,Donatien Njomo, Modeling and Simulation of photovoltaic module considering single-diode equivalent circuit model in MATLAB- (IJETAE), Iss.3 Vol. 3, March 2013 [4] Rajesh Gupta, Gaurang Gupta, Dharmendra Kastwar, Amir Hussain and Hars Ranjan, Modeling and Design of MPPT Controller for a PV Module using PSCAD/EMTDC. [5] http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexch ange/41537-a-photovoltaic-panel-model-inmatlabsimulink [6] http://californiasolarcenter.org/ssh.html/newssh/pd fs/Solarex-MSX64.pdf

Shivananda Pukhrem, is Master of Science under the program Renewable Energy System from Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland. He passed out in 2013, July with a master thesis in Investigation into algorithms of photovoltaic array maximum power point tracking. He is specializing in Solar PV system and has strong interest on it. He did his bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, India. His bachelor final year project was 12 Volt-10 Ampere solar charge controller using current mode (IC- UC3844) PWM charging technique.

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