Temperature effects on the power production based

photovoltaic cells

A. Sahri, S. Toumi H. Ramenah, C.Tanougast

University ofBadji-Mokhtar, LERICA, Annaba, Algeria University of Lorraine, Metz, France
abderrazeg. sahri@univ-annaba.org {harry.ramenah, camel.tanougast}@univ-Iorraine.fr

Abstract-Like all semiconductor devices, solar cells are sensitive to temperature effect on electrical current and power production.
temperature. In actual installations the cell temperature rises leading to a total
In this Section, experimental measurements under real
efficiency reduction, which cannot be overlooked. This paper investigates the
influence of the temperature and solar radiation changing effects on the
conditions are performed to quantify the influence of the
system performance. Our study is based on experimental results set up of 6 temperature in term of current and power production. Finally,
PV multicrystallin silicon panels under existing conditions and not indoor a conclusion is given in section IV.
conditions.
Keywords--Solar Energy, Renewable and Sustainable Energy, II. PV MODULE EFFICIENCY AS A FUNCTION OF THE
Semiconductors. Photovoltaic effect, p-n junction. Silicon cells. temperature
OPERATING TEMPERATURE
influence. Power production.
The photovoltaic effect [6, 7] is the basic principal
I. INTRODUCTION
process by which a PV cell converts sunlight into electricity.
The annual power output yield by photovoltaic (PV) When light shines on a PV cell, it may be reflected, absorbed,
system depends on several climatic factors [1] such as the or passed right through. The absorbed light generates
solar radiation, the ambient temperature and the state of the electricity. Fig. 1 gives an electrical model of a PV cell.
solar modules (cell material, ageing, cleanliness, etc.)[2]. To
develop efficient renewable and sustainable energy for power

1
Rs
production systems, the strong understanding of electro diod
thermal behaviors of the PV is required. Indeed, a behavior Current Rp
Ig R

vi
generator
model compared to experimental measurement results
contributes to predict the current and power production
variations which must be taking into account in the sizing
t Id Ip
..

installation and manufacturing of solar energy production
system, and energy distribution network based on PV. Fig. 1 Electrical circuit model of single diode PV cell
In this paper, we focus this work mainly on experimental including the parasitic series and shunt resistances.
observations of the temperature influence [3, 4] on the global In this electrical model, by neglecting the parasite current
efficiency [5], and thus on electrical power production. As the Ip, the current running in a load resistance R is deduced as
cell temperature rises above the standard operating follows :
temperature of 2YC, the panel operates less efficiently and the
provided voltage decreases. In this case heat can be considered 1 = 19 - Id (1)
as resistance to flow of electrons. The effective current also where Id and Ig are the dark and photo currents, respectively.
seems to decrease. A panel between 80 to 90C, losses 0.5% in These currents are given by the following expressions:
efficiency per every degree rise in temperature. On hot l
summer days, we observed from our experimental set up, the Id = az . e[(a3 'V)- ] (2)
panel temperature can easily reach 70C or more, although a 19 = al . S* (3)
natural air flow behind the panels. Solar panels are tested where V is the voltage at the terminal of the PV cell. S* is the
2
under laboratory conditions called STC (Standard Test intensity of solar radiation (W/m ). a), a2, and a3 are
Conditions)and corresponding at a solar radiation level of temperature function parameters [8] given by the following
2 equations:
1000W/m with a temperature of 2YC. However, in the real
2.5 . 10-7 r + 2 . 10-4
2
world, these conditions are constantly changing. Therefore, al = (A/Wm ) (4)
the panel output is different from the laboratory conditions. a2 =
6 4
4 10- . r . e- 3 (A)
a (5)
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section II a3 -.!L (A/W) (6)
=
KT
describes the PV modeling based on parameter value
extraction depending temperature influence of real PV silicon where q is the electronic charge (C). K is the Boltzmann
cells. The details of the procedure measurement for constant (JIK), and T is the absolute temperature. The plots
determining the PV characteristics through experimental given by the figure 2 to 4 show experimental results of
results are given in this section. Section III presents the variations of a" a2, and a3 parameters obtained for a PV silicon

978-1-4799-3570-3/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE

cell. From the Fig. 3, we deduce that the vanatlOn of the (1 + a3 Vm) e(a3'Vm) al s' (8)
az
=

parameter a2 is a linear function of temperature for T ::; 300k.

where Vm is obtained by a numerical method. Thereby,
However, this parameter increases according to an exponential
introducing Vm in the equation (6), we determine the
function when T > 300K. Usually, this trend is no taken into
maximum current relation as follows :
consideration by cell manufacturers.
From the equations (1), (2), (3) and the power expression
p = V . I , the power relation can be expressed as follows: 40 ,____--------,---

V (al - a . e[(a3V)-11)
p = . . S* z (7) 39

Fig. 6 shows the power variation as a function of 38

temperature (here expressed in degree) for a solar radiation
2 37
flux at 900W/m .We observe clearly that when increasing
temperature, the PV power decreases. We also shown that for
36
the PN junction of the PV silicon cell, the voltage variation is
approximately -2mV/oC (see Fig. 5). 35
.4
X 10
2.88 ,____-----,___-___,
34

2.86 a1 = 2.5 * 10-

7 T + 2 * 10-4
33 '-------------
290 300 310 320 330 340 350
1"K
2.84

Fig. 4. Variation of a3 parameter function versus temperature.

2.82

ro 2.8 0.62

2.78 0.6

2.76 o.

2.74 O,56
>

2.72 '---------------' o.
290 300 310 320 330 340 350
T'K
0.52
Fig. 2. Variation of a1 parameter versus temperature.
0.5 '---------
a n m _
0 "'
X 1 .10
1.2-----,___-------------,
_

Fig. 5. Voltage variation at the terminal PV cell versus

temperature.

OOO ,____-------____,
0
.8

940

0
.6
920

04
.
900

0 880
.2

860

0==== 3L O-----'
9LO-30 3 330--340 --350
0------'
1 2
1"K 840

Fig. 3. Variation of a2 parameter versus temperature. 820 '------------"

25 30 40 45
1"C

From the equation (7), deriving P by V, we determine the Fig. 6. Power variation of the PV cell versus temperature.
maximwn voltage Vm expressed as follows:
(9)
Thereby, we deduce the maximum power relation as follows: light irradiation (W/mz), and the green one is the module
temperature.
(10)

The maximum electrical power Pm is simply related to

electrical efficiency 11m by the following expression:
Pm al'arVm 2 (11)
11m p;
=
(C1+a3 'Vm}S)
=

where Sc and p* are the aperture area, and available electrical

power when each solar cell is illuminated, respectively. Note
that, for silicon cells, the solar cells lose power as they
increase in temperature according the following relation :

G) . e:; ) -(0.004 to O.OOS);oC (12)

Fig. 7 shows the experimental variation of efficiency versus

the temperature.
Fig. 8. The six polycristallin modules with nature airflow.
16
------ I
15 I III III
I I III
14 f.-..Em.ci<=(.%;-
)' --:----.. III
13
2
S*=10001m
I -----
__----

12 r---
11
III
II III IIII
10
II I III III S*= 800 W/m2

o 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 "0 90
5
S*= 600 W/m2
Fig. 7. Efficiency variation versus temperature.

III. REAL CONDITIONS PY POWER OUTPUT DEPENDING ON

MODULE OPERATING TEMPERATURE S*= 400W/m2
The solar PV panels give best results in different weather
conditions. However, Standard Test Conditions (STC) rating
39LO---- 300---- 3, 0----- 320-- 33--
0 0 ---- 350

are not capable of predicting exactly how much energy a T'K
module will produce when operating under real conditions. To
understanding the PV power behavior depending the Fig. 9. Current variation versus temperature of PV cells for
temperature, we measured from an experimental set up the PV different solar radiation S*.
power output in real conditions.
Fig. 8 presents the experimental set up (latitude 49. 107841 , ----,
1200 ------------ ----, ----

and longitude 6. 225603) used to study the temperature effect *=1000W/m2

on electrical current and power production for different solar 1000
irradiations. The solar modules used for these experimental S*=800W/m2
measurements are PV MPE205PS05 from scHOcO [9]. SOO
The experimental results showing the current and power
variations versus temperature for different solar radiation are
given in the Figures 9 and 10, respectively. We note that the
;[
"-
600 --------S
current of a solar panel is proportional to the intensity of solar S*=400W/m2
radiation as well as temperature. Moreover, we observe clearly 400

that the electrical power decreases with increasing

temperature. Indeed, the voltage is highly dependent on the 200

temperature, and an increase in temperature will decrease the

voltage.
g,,0 300 310 320 330 O 350
Fig. 11 shows our experimental prediction of PV module T'K
performance in terms of electrical power output in the field
(sunshine and calm winds), and corresponding to the deviation Fig. 10. Power variation versus temperature of PV cells for
from the standard test conditions. In this figure, the red curve different solar radiation S*.
is the electrical power output (W) while the blue one is the
 900 47,5
3.2S0
850 4S,0
3.000 42,5
800
40,0
2.7S0 750
37,5
700
2.500 3S,0
650 m

2.2S0 !2 32,5
600 !i.
--i

3010 .g
(1)

.:g 2.000 550

a 27,5 [
" SOO ' 2S,0
'\:> 1.7S0
" 450';; =>
o
mo 22,5 [
1.500 400 .g. c

. ., (1) 20,0 .!
"
1.2S0 350 17,5 .Q
3'
a.

300
1S,0
1.000
250 12,5
7S0 200 10,0
500 150 7,5
100 5,0
2S0
SO 2,5
Time of day
o 0,0
00:00 02:00 04:00 06:00 08:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 00:00

-Installation complete - Sensorbox.2.117 - Eclairel11enl energetique - Sensorbox.2.117 - Temperature module

Fig. 11. Power drop due to high temperature under existing conditions during a sunny day.
PV module manufacturer's that reported modules
performance under STC rating is not capable of predicting
exactly how much energy a module will produce in the field.
The large drop of power output in the Fig.II is clearly due to
temperature effect, while the irradiance curve is a continued
one.
IV. CONCLUSION
investment is considered_
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the PV cell electrical behavior varying to temperature_ We
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influenced by a temperature gradient through experimental set
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roof and the modules to pull away some heat, when return on