Winter School on RES,

at Afyon Karahisar University

16-18 January 2013
Prof. Socrates Kaplanis
President of the TEI of Patras
Dr. Eleni Kaplani
http://solar-net.teipat.gr
kaplanis@teipat.gr
ICAROS : Man and Nature

Temperature effect on PV cell performance
The PV cell technology provides extremely beautiful
products which are systematically explored and
integrated into any business or system.

They attract interest due to the direct conversion of solar
radiation into current, (Power) and.Heat !
although not produced as such.

However,

Sun & Heat affect its Target !!!

Temperature effect on PV cell performance:
A solar roof affected by T
c
in the RES Lab. TEI Patras


PV cell ageing due to T
c



PV cell browning due to hot spotsT
c


PV array placed almost horizontally on a roof.
T
c
effect ?

Temperature effect on PV Winter School
(i,V) characteristic curve of a PV-cell



The characteristics of a diode at dark and under illumination are given by the
superposition of the two lines. This (i,V) provides the current i=iph- I
0
.

Temperature effect on PV
Winter School at Afyon Karahisar University
We call characteristic curve of a PV-cell the one
which represents the current i delivered by the
PV-cell versus the voltage, V, across the
resistance, which is connected to its terminals.

The characteristic curve can be understood
theoretically if we design the electric equivalent
circuit of a PV-cell, which is a current generator
connected in parallel with a diode.
A simple electric equivalent circuit of a PV cell
|
|
.
|

\
|
= 1 e I i i
kT
qV
0 ph |
|
.
|

\
|
+ = 1
I
i
ln
q
kT
V
0
ph
oc
General type current conservation
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
= =
sh
s
D ph R D ph
R
ir V
I i i i I i i
sh
The 2 diode model
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
|
.
|

\
|
=
= =
+ +
1 e I 1 e I i
I i i
T
s
T
s
2V
ir V
r
V
ir V
0 ph
D ph

Studying (i-V) and PV-cell
performance
Question: Does the characteristic i-V
depend on the temperature of the PV cell?
Answer: Yes.

Comment: i
sc
slightly increases with T
c
,
while V
OC
decreases as T
c
increases.

i
sc
and V
oc
dependence on T
c
The dependence on
temperature has to be taken
into account for the various
PV-sizing problems and
accurate calculations.
i
sc
increases slightly with
T
c
, according to:

V
OC
decreases, as T
C

increases according to:
per PV-cell, or

for n
s
PV-cells in series
C
V
10 2.3
dT
dV
0
3 OC
=


1
0
4 sc
sc
K 10 3
dT
di
i
1

=
C
V
n 10 2.3
dT
dV
0
s
3 OC
=

Various expressions on PV cell basic quantities
i-V characteristic :
(

|
.
|

\
|

+
~

T 10 8.7
V ir V
exp 1 i i
5
oc s
sc
( ) | | 300 T 10 3 1 C A 0.034 i
4
sc
+ ~

T
300
C 0.06log 0.63
1.25 V
10
oc
|
.
|

\
|
~
( ) | | ( )
s
r A C 0.05 1 300 T 0.0006 0.8 FF ~
100%
0.1 C A
FF V i

oc sc

=
100%
0.1 C A
V i



=
Reference systems to study PV cell performance
N.O.C.T.(Normal Operating Cell Temperature)

In order to design a PV-generator and especially
to estimate the installed power or the peak
power, P
m
, (W
p
) there should be a reference
system on which the power delivered by the PV-
generator will be estimated.

As the PV-panel performance depends on solar
insolation and temperature or on environmental
parameters, there are two-reference systems in
use.
S.T.C. reference system
(S.T.C.)- Standard Test Conditions
This implies that for PV-cell tests, the
environmental conditions should be:
Solar Intensity on the PV-cell: 10
3
W/m
2
or 100 mW/cm
2
Temperature of the PV-cell: TC=25
0
C, and
Solar spectrum AM1.5 (air mass),

Another set of conditions is the so-called
Standard Operating Conditions (S.O.C.)
These conditions have been proposed in order to determine
the peak power P
m
or W
p
, as they approach better the
reality.
S.O.C
These conditions are:
Solar insolation on the PV-cell: I
T
=800 W/m
2
, the
ambient temperature, Ta=20
0
C, and wind velocity V
W

<1 m/s.
The PV-panel has to be south-facing and the
measurements to be carried out at noon, at solar noon
(=0)
c. All these measurements should be taken under
conditions of open-circuit.

Important: The temperature a PV-cell reaches, when it
operates under S.O.C., is called N.O.C.T. (Normal
Operating Cell Temperature).
Usually, N.O.C.T. is 20
0
-40
0
C above T
a
.
Problem
A PV-cell operates in an environment T
a
=30
0
C
with solar intensity, on it: I
T
=800 W/m
2
.
Estimate Tc.
Solution:
From the theory of heat transfer as I
T
is partially
absorbed by the PV-cell its temperature increases
above Ta.
It is proven that T
c
satisfies the relationship:

T w a c
I h T T + =
C C C
W
K m
m
W
C
0 0 0
0
2
2
0
54 24 30 03 . 0 800 30 = + = + =
W
K m
h
W
0 2
03 . 0 =
Problem
A PV-panel consists of 34 cells in series.
When I
T
=700W/m
2
; T
a
=34
0
C;
i
sc
=3A; V
oc
=20.4V; P
max
=45.9W;
PV-cell characteristics under S.T.C.
NOCT=43
0
C.
Find : i
sc
, V
oc
, P
max
under the above
conditions.

Steps:
1.
We assume that i
sc
does not change dramatically
with T
C
, as V
oc
does

2. Estimate ,


Put, NOCT=43
0
C, Ta=34
0
CT
C
=54.12
0
C


A A 1 . 2 7 . 0 3 = =
sc
i
8 . 0
7 . 0
20
:
0
=

C NOCT
T T
T
a C
C
Estimate new Voc under field conditions


Volts V T
dT
dV
V
C
oc
oc
1 . 18 ) 25 12 . 54 ( 34 10 3 . 2 4 . 20 ) 25 (
3 0
= = + =

0
oc,54.12
V
75 . 0
4 . 20 3
9 . 45
=

=
V A
W
oc sc
m
oc sc
m m
V i
P
V i
V i
FF
Why do we estimate FF ?
FF does not change dramatically with T
C
; we assume it constant

. Estimate the corrected P
max
W Volts A C V
m
W
i FF P
oc sc cond new
5 . 28 1 . 18 1 . 2 75 . 0 ) 12 . 54 ( 700
0
2
max,
= =
|
.
|

\
|
=
621 . 0
9 . 45
5 . 28
=
W
W
That is, the PV-panel operates at 62.1% of its peak level.

PV cell efficiency change with T
c
vs C

The rate of change of PV-efficiency with T is given by:


( ) ( )
dT
FF d
FF
1
dT
i d
i
1
dT
dV
V
1
dT
d

1
sc
sc
oc
oc
+ + =
Voc vs Concentration with T
c
as parameter

Efficiency vs C with T
c
as parameter
Power decreases by 0.4% for every 1
0
C
increase
Experimental results with transient
consideration
The change in Voc and isc does not take
place in a dt of time, but it is based on the
law of energy balance which has an
inherent exp term.

That is to be discussed later in these
lectures
V
oc
transient vs t at natural air environment;
starts from 0.579 to 0.525.
time constant =40 s
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Tasi
Transient i
sc
vs t at natural air flow environment,
i
sc
starts from 0.375 and levels out at 0.397 A.
Time constant =40 s
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Reyma
PV cell transient temperature profile natural
heat flow at I
T
= 10
3
W/m
2
time constant = 40 s
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Tc
Ta
The same as before with forced air flow
to extract heat
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 100 200 300 400 500
Tasi
The same I
T
as before for forced air
flow
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0 100 200 300 400 500
Reyma
PV cell temperature profile at same I
T
with forced air
flow. The same time constant; lower T
c
;

lower losses


16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
0 100 200 300 400 500
Tc
Ta
V
oc
profile at IT higher than before; the temp.
effect is higher; almost the same; no fan used.
V
oc
started from 0.603 V down to 0.496 V
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Tasi
i
sc
time profile. The temp. effect is higher than for lower
I
T
. It starts from 0.795A and levels out at 0.871A; no fan
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1000
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Reyma
Temperature profile vs time. Time constant, , almost the
same. Temp. is now much higher; no fan used
16
26
36
46
56
66
76
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Tc
Ta
V
oc
time profile; fan is used to extract heat off. It
starts from 0.601V and levels at 0.550 V. Time
constant the same
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Tasi
i
sc
time profile for heat extraction conditions.
Values start from 0.797 A and level down at
0.843 A
-100
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Reyma
PV cell Temperature time profile with fan used to
cool down the cell. The effect and the changes are
obvious
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Tc
Ta
Measured V
oc
vs

temperature

in K for a c-Si cell at
various. Please, determine dV
oc
/dT
c
VocMEAS vs Tc
0,3
0,35
0,4
0,45
0,5
0,55
0,6
0,65
290 310 330 350 370 390 410
120
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
V
oc
profile measured and predicted for the
same as before c-Si PV cell
60 Voc vs t
0,48
0,5
0,52
0,54
0,56
0,58
0,6
0 50 100 150 200
PREDICT
MEASURED
The BIPV performance model
The temperature developed in a PV cell working
in field conditions, or integrated into a building
shell, strongly affects the PV cell efficiency.
It plays a significant role in the PV cell
performance and the overall annual yield.
The temperature of the PV cell depends on the
solar radiation intensity on the cell, I
T
(W/m
2
), the
ambient air temperature, Ta (C), the cell
technology and structure, the geometry of the PV
array in the field; that is, the tilt angle and the
orientation, as well as its surrounding.
The performance model
The latter might have the form of:
PV panels placed across a wall, like facades,
roofs or shadow hangers, or
a PV array in free environment.

Both cases above are very important to
investigate, either for the design of buildings with
solar technology elements integrated into their
structure, or for a more accurate estimation of
the energy to be delivered by a PV generator in
a period of time.
On the other hand, the wind strongly affects the PV
module temperature but not considered here.

It is necessary to distinguish between natural
convection of heat, (air flow is caused by the
difference in temperatures, between the PV cell
and its environment), or forced air flow, due to
wind. Also, the wind direction matters.

The effect of the angle of inclination on the PV
efficiency, as it is associated to the temperature
profile developed on the PV cell is our concern.
As the PV module may convert only a small
part of the radiation into power, eg. 15% in the
case of c- Si cells, the rest of the radiation,
minus the reflected part, is dissipated, finally,
into heat.
This causes the PV cell temperature to raise
above the ambient air temperature.
Provided the conditions of the PV system and
its surrounding do not change fast, then,
steady state conditions prevail and the thermal
capacities of the PV system may be neglected.
Energy Balance Equation
Thus, we may consider that approximately, the
85% of the solar radiation on the PV cell is
converted into heat which finally flows to both PV
sides, with an assumption of equal rates. This
heat is then passed into the environment. The
expression which may hold for the energy
balance for steady state conditions takes the
form:

()*

=
pv
*I
T
+ h
pv,f
* (T
pv,f
T
a
)+ h
pv,b
*(T
pv,b
T
a
) (1)

Giving a value to () almost 1, setting h
pv,f
= h
pv,b

=h and T
pv,f
= T
pv,b
= T
pv
, eq(1) may take a simple
approximate form:

(1-
pv
)* I
T
= h* 2*(T
pv
-T
a
) (2)

Then, eq(2) may be written:
T
pv
= T
a
+ 0.5 *(1-
pv
)* I
T
/ h
pv
(3)

For
pv
= 15% and h
pv
=10 W/m
2
K for plane
surfaces out in the open air, with a negligible wind
velocity, less than 1m/s, eq(3) gives:
T
pv
= T
a
+ 0.0425* I
T

If we set h
pv
=15 W/m
2
K, which is a case with
some wind prevailing , or a case that the air
flow past the PV back surface gets turbulent,
then instead of 0.0425 m
2
K/W the coefficient
becomes 0.028 m
2
K/W.
Such figures derived from the simple analysis
above are expected when studying the effect of
I
T
on T
pv
for cases of PV panels, outdoors.

We may, thus, well assume that:
T
pv
= T
a
+ * I
T
(5)
may be a function dependent on many
parameters, like:
the solar radiation spectrum, or
correspondingly the clearness index, Kt,
the inclination angle, , as h
pv
generally
depends on this angle,
the type of flow, that is natural or forced
flow, and
the pattern of air flow past the PV panel,
ie laminar or turbulent, which determines
the value of h
pv

It is important to design experiments to
determine the PV panel performance, its
maximum power, P
m
and
pv
, associated to the
I
T
and the value, as parameters.
The coefficient (Km
2
/W) might well be
assumed as a function of the inclination of the
module, , where =f(.) or it is a function of
cos()., when calculating the Grashof or the
Nusselt numbers,

All these lead to the conclusion that even with
the same solar radiation intensity on two PV
panels, which have different inclination angles,
one may get different results for P
m
,
pv
and T
pv
.
A PV generator serving as a shading
device, too.

A PV generator in a free space outdoors.

Experimental set up

A system may be built to collect and manage data and
measure the PV module performance equipped with:

A data logger
An i-V characteristic portable system , developed and
built for this project
A Pyranometer Kipp & Zonen, type CMP3 and
temperature sensors: thermocouple T ( Cu-Cons).
Additionally, for cross-check reasons, a portable infra-
red thermometer, type Mikron M90 series was used.
The sensors were placed on the back side of the PV
module directly on the Tedlar foil.
A sensor for the ambient air temperature, Ta
The i-V curves were obtained and analysed for all
cases examined.



Results
T
pv
, T
a
, and I
T
were measured, for various
values from 16
0
to 75
0
.
P
m
and
pv
were determined vs I
T
for
predetermined values of the angle of
inclination, . Each measurement lasted for
a period of time, let the system reach its
steady state and get a whole performance
profile of a range of I
T
values under such
conditions.
The i-V curves were obtained, so that Pm
was determined. Then, the specific
efficiency, P
m
/I
T
, was calculated.
1st case: the PV panel as a hang over or
shading device
The temperature difference between the PV panel
and the ambient defined by, T
dif
=T
pv
- T
a
,
increased, in general, linearly with I
T
, for any
angle.
Generally, T
dif
decreases for the same I
T
on the
PV panel, as the angle increases;
However, for an inclination, , equal 47
0
there
appears that T
dif
is higher than expected.
This behaviour is attributed to partial blockage in
the air flow for this type of PV array set up.
This general trend for T
dif
was expected,
as the PV surface heat transfer coefficient,
h
pv
, increases as takes higher values.
It is, thus, expected that for the same
value of I
T
, the highest T
dif
value is for the
horizontal position.
Therefore, as gets smaller the Power
should relatively decrease and eventually
the efficiency of the PV panel.
T
dif
vs I
T
, on a PV panel inclined over a window.
The results are given for various inclination
angles.

P
m
vs I
T
, for various inclination angles. For the
same I
T
, P
m
increases as angle increases, till
the 40
o
. The PV array acts as a shading device

. Relative efficiency vs I
T
for a PV array at an inclined position in front of a
window. For the same value of I
T
the efficiency is higher as the inclination
increases. This trend reverses for high values; see curves corresponding to 47
o

and 75
o

The relative efficiency, P
m
/I
T
, decreases with I
T

The effect on the PV panel efficiency by an increase
of I
T
, is finally negative. In all cases, but one, the
relative efficiency decreases with I
T
, instead of
increasing with the solar radiation intensity. This is
due to the stronger negative effect the temperature
has on P
m
and consequently on the efficiency.
Conclusively, the negative effect of temperature,
d
pv
/d, is absolutely higher than the positive effect of
d
pv
/dI.
On the contrary, for high values, eg for an
inclination =75, the above figure shows that for low
I
T
<500W/m
2
the efficiency increases with I
T
, till
500W/m
2
. Then, the efficiency decreases and follows
the rate and sign of the cases, as discussed above.
2nd Case: The PV generator placed in a free
environment outdoors.
The measurements obtained are rationally
interpreted, without any exceptionas the previous
case.
T
dif
increases with I
T
and takes larger values for
small . In this case, T
dif
takes lower values
compared to case 1,
However, as the natural air flow at the back side
of the PV surface changes to turbulent, due to
the increase in the Grashof number, at about 40
0

-45
0
, a larger drop in T
dif
occurs.
On the contrary, in high values, the flow of the
air passed by the PV panel turns again laminar or
the layers glide over the back PV surface.
. T
dif
, vs I
T
for various inclination angles of the PV
array placed in a free environment, outdoors.

Values of coefficient
Analysis of the data, taken from the experiments
show that coefficient which appears takes
values, which follow the pattern:
0.025 for angles around 35
o
-40
o
,
while, it increases for lower or higher than 40
o

angle values, reaching 0.050 for free space
environment and
0.065 for the case the PV panel is placed in front
of the window.
P
m
vs I
T
for various inclination angles. The
figure stands for a PV array positioned in a free
space, outdoors.

. Relative efficiency, P
m
/I
T
vs I
T
for various
inclination angles. The figure holds for a PV array
placed in a free space, outdoors.

Analysis of Results
Examine the behaviour and the rate of change
of the efficiency
pv
over the T
dif
for various
inclinations and at different I
T
levels, in field
conditions.
Choose the curves representing the inclination
angles 47
0
and 26
0
, inter-related with the ones
for I
T
values: 700, 800, 900 W/m
2
.
The result is that the relative change of the
efficiency over the T
dif
for both the inclination
angles of the PV panel, (d
pv
/d)/
pv
, takes
values from about 0.40%/
0
C to -0.50%/
0
C.
It is important to notice that the estimation
of the relative change of the efficiency with
respect to temperature, (d
pv
/d)/
pv
, was
tried for either:
a chosen solar irradiation level on the PV
panel: 700, 800, 900 W/m
2
at two different
angles, or for
a specific angle of inclination, 47
0
or 26
0
, in
a range of I
T
values.
The same analysis was followed to obtain
(d
pv
/d)/
pv
values using data corresponding
to the curves for the angles 47
0
and 16
0
, as in
apropriate figures.
This analysis gave a higher value for
(d
pv
/d)/
pv
. The relative change,
(d
pv
/d)/
pv
, was estimated to about -
1.0%/
0
C,
which denotes the effect that the inclination
angle has in the PV performance.
he estimation of (d
pv
/d)/
pv
from the data
was achieved with two approaches:
1st Approach
From a figure the (d
pv
/dI)/
pv
value was
determined for an inclination angle. Then, from
the first figure dT
dif
/dI was determined for the
same .
Hence, (d
pv
/dI)/(dT/dI) /
pv
was estimated. The
results provide that the relative change of
pv
per
o
C, is of the order of -0.5% to -0.6%/
o
C for
=47
o
, while for = 36
o
the result is
-0.95%/
o
C and for =26
o
it is about 1.0%/
o
C
Those results hold for the range of I
T
from 700
1000 W/m
2

2nd Approach

In this mode, there was selected an I
T
value and two
angles of inclination.
The effect of the angle of inclination associated to a value
of I
T
, which changes during the day, along with the effect
from the T
dif
, which differs with , shows that the relative
decrease in the efficiency, when the angle changes from
47
o
to 26
o
takes values:
-0.44% at 700 W/m^2 .
--0.50% at 800 W/m^2
-0.47 % at 900 W/m^2
When we analyze data for the same coefficient but for a
change in from 47
o
to 16
o
,then the relative decrease is
doubled.


The integrated relative change of (d
pv
/dI
T
)/
pv

over a range of I
T
that is [(d
pv
/dI
T
)/
pv
]


1. for the same angle of inclination, , is obtained
according to the following analysis:

[(d
pv
/dI)/
pv
]*=
[V
-1
oc
*(dV
oc
/dT)*(dT/dI)+
i
-1
sc
*(di
sc
/dT)*(dT/dI)+
FF
-1
*(dFF/dT)*(dT/dI)]*
The estimation of the expression ( d
pv
/dI)/
pv
)I
using from literature the values of the rate of
change of V
oc
, i
sc
, FF and
the rate T
pv
changes with I
T
,
taken from the figure, provides a theoretical
value of -3.7 3.8 % for the range of
measurements from 800 to 1000 W/m
2

On the other hand, the analysis of the
experimental data provided in the figures above
give a value of -7% at 47
0
and 5.56 % at 16
0

for the same range 800 to 1000 W/m
2

A new Book on RES
Renewable Energy Systems: Theory,
Innovations and Intelligent Applications

Editors: Socrates Kaplanis and Eleni Kaplani
(Technological Educational Institute of Patras, Greece)
Book Description:
This book aims to provide a friendly and comprehensive
tool in the study of the key issues of Renewable Energy
Systems,
in order to gain a deeper insight in this broad field
through thematic investigations, and, finally,
to become able to design competitive innovations and
intelligent applications of Renewable Energy Systems in
the domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors.
This work is a collaborative attempt to elaborate useful
technical information from many countries around the
world concerning the efficient and effective use and
management of Renewable Energy Systems,

either autonomous or hybrids, and

to deliver theoretical and experimental analysis in
Renewable Energy Systems issues,

with numerous exercises, extended problems and case
studies, simulation models and algorithms,
(Imprint: Nova Publishers, NY)