Carbon emission reduction by PV systems and effect

of environmental parameters on the performance of

Solar Photovoltaic systems.
Manish Kumar, Arun Kumar
Alternate Hydro Energy Centre
Indian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee , Uttarakhand, India
e-mail: naik.manish17@gmail.com
Abstract Clean energy production without any harm to
environment is a greatest concern of climate change. Countries
all around the globe started different measures to reducing their
carbon emission after the commencement of Kyoto protocol.
Investment in renewable energy helps these countries in two ways
first, clean generation of energy and second, reduction in carbon
emission. Among these renewable energy sources, solar energy is
the most popular form of renewable energy generation due to its
easy availability, low cost and maintenance. Present study
analyzes how solar photovoltaic system contributes to clean
energy generation and carbon emission reduction. Performance
and efficiency of SPV (Solar photovoltaic system) system is also
evaluated and impact of climate change on the output power of
SPV system is also considered. More investment in efficient use
of solar energy for electricity production and thermal energy
utilization helps to decrease the carbon emission. Climate change
has drastic effect on the PV performance due to increase in
ambient temperature of earth and increase in pollution on the
earth. Output power of SPV system decreases with increase in
temperature and if the pollution level on the earth is increased
which blocks solar radiation reaching to PV panels and
significant reduction in output power of PV systems.
Keywordssolar cell model; Matlab simulation; carbon
emission reduction, carbon credit

I. SOLAR CELL
Solar cell is basic key component of PV module and PV array
which is sort of semiconductor device. The operation of
solar cell is to convert light energy into electricity is based on
the properties of semiconductor devices, is popularly known
as photovoltaic effect. When the light energy falls on the solar
cells, creates the mobile charge particles in the semiconductor.
The electric circuit is to be made for the extraction of
electrical current generated in semiconductor by the front and
rear side of contacts of solar cells [9]. The equivalent circuit of
solar cell is illustrated by Duffie and Beckman [10], is shown
in Fig. 1.

Fig.1. Equivalent circuit of solar cell.

In mathematical terms, the output current of

solar cell is obtained by applying Kirchoffs
current law at the output node, is given
below,
(1)

Where

the light generated current is

produced on illumination of solar cell. The

diode current

is flow through the

antiparallel diode which is responsible for the

solar cell non-linear characteristics and
shunt current flowing through the shunt
resistor

Using equivalent circuit of solar cell,

substitute the appropriate expressions for
and

, we get
(2)

is

Where

is diode current modeled by the equation for a

Shockley diode,
current,

is saturated reverse current or leakage

is electron charge (1.602 10-19 C),

boltzmann constant (1.38 x 10 -23 J/K),

temperature,

is diode ideality factor,

and

is

near future which adversely affect the output power of PV

module, therefore this paper will focus on the variation of
output power of with temperature. Additionally, this paper will
present study on the reduction in carbon emission by using
solar photovoltaic systems.

is cell operating
III. METHODOLOGY

is series resistance

is shunt resistance.

II. INTRODUCTION
The continuous climate change in the atmosphere of earth
is always occurred due to internal and external forcing like
ocean variability, solar output, volcanism etc. [1]. However, in
current scenario, the change in climatic conditions are not only
caused by natural forcing, but also driven by rigorous
anthropogenic activities which results in the global warming.
According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration,
a space agency of USA predicted that increase in greenhouse
gas emissions (GHG) as a result of industrial and human
activities can rise the global average surface temperatures
between 2C and 6C by the end of the 21st century [2]. The
greenhouse gas emissions due to energy production accounts
for around 70% of total global emissions where it was 26 % in
2004. The emission in the form carbon-dioxide caused by
fossil fuels contributes 57% of all GHG emissions [3, 4].
Therefore, the prime concern is to develop the energy
generation sector that do not hold the emissions of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere for the stabilization of CO 2induced
component of climate change[5]. The renewable energy can
serve as best possible alternative to conventional energy
sources and act as green energy sources which can mitigate the
threats of climate change by producing clean energy. Apart
from GHG emission concern, depletion of conventional energy
resources in near future is also major cause for significant rise
in interest to use renewable energy resources. Among all
renewable energy sources, solar energy has extensive potential
for clean energy production and considered as unlimited source
of energy on the earth [6]. There are many different ways to
harness solar energy, solar photovoltaic technology is one of
the most popular and extensively used method which is
progressively penetrating the renewable energy market [7]. For
future solar energy scenario, the basic step is to calculate the
energy generation potential of solar photovoltaics (SPV)
systems which helps in development of legal and financial
framework for the successful implementation of SPV systems
[8].
While designing any solar PV power plant, the basic
requirement is to accurately estimate the output power of that
plant in real outdoor condition to know the feasibility of
system for proposed area. The modules power rating are
assigned at standard rating conditions (STC) of 1000 W/m2,
module temperature of 25 C and AM1.5 which generally does
not occurs in real outdoor conditions and hence, modules
experience different weather conditions throughout their
lifetime. Consequently, power produced by PV plants
significantly varies with actual weather conditions, therefore,
this paper summarizes the change in output power of PV
modules with main weather parameters like solar radiations
and temperature. As world is witnessing change in climatic
conditions years by years due to global warming significant
and hence, world surface average temperature will increase in

A. Output Power of PV module

The nominal voltage supplied by single solar cell mostly is
in the range of 0.5 to 0.6 V and can provide the output power
between 1 to 1.5. Since, this much voltage is not sufficient for
running most of the devices and hence, solar cells are
connected in series to form a PV module. The nominal
operating voltage of PV modules has to be matched with the
voltage capacity of storage subsystem, therefore most of the
PV module manufacturer have developed panels of standard
configuration to work with 12V batteries. Generally, the
voltage supplied by PV panels always higher than the 12 V in
order to compensate in lower output condition because panels
experiences the outdoor conditions are not perfect as standard
outdoor conditions, therefore, a set of 33 and 36 solar cells
are commonly connected in series to ensure reliable operation
[9].
The nominal output power of PV module is usually called
as peak output power and rated in peak watts, Wp. The PV
manufacturer provides the different parameters of modules
along with peak power at standard conditions of 1000 W/m2,
module temperature of 25 C and AM1.5. The important
parameters of PV modules are short circuit current
, open
circuit voltage
, and maximum power point
varies
with temperature and irradiance.
Temperature is one of the most important factor needed to
be addressed to determine the variations in output power of
PV module in actual conditions. According to semiconductor
physics, the current generation is semiconductor devices
increases with temperature but the voltage temperature
coefficient of module is negative that decrease the open circuit
voltage and hence, positive current temperature coefficient is
small as compare to negative temperature coefficient of open
circuit voltage which significantly reduces the output power
[9]. As variation of current is very small in practical
application that is why, in solar cells, only voltage variations
with temperature is calculated, is given below
(3)
where
temperature,
conditions,

is open circuit voltage at module operating

is open circuit voltage at reference
is voltage temperature coefficient ,

is

ambient temperature and is solar cell temperature.

The solar radiation is the key source of power production
in PV module and short circuit current
of module is the
function of irradiance and vary in proportional to solar

radiation during the day in same manner [9, 10]. The voltage
of solar cell is also dependent on irradiance in logarithmic
term because it is logarithmic function of current. The change
in open circuit voltage caused by irradiance is less than the
short circuit current for entire day, hence, the variation due to
voltage can be neglected and short circuit current variation of
PV module can be presented in mathematical terms as:
(4)
where
and

is short circuit current at operating irradiance

is short circuit current at standard conditions and

is the value of irradiance at which PV module

is operating .
It is always desired that PV module should operate at
maximum power point to extract maximum possible power to
load at any outdoor condition. Therefore many techniques are
available to extract maximum power from PV modules are
called as maximum power point tracking. The maximum
power point voltage of module is denoted by
roughly
independent of irradiance and it can be estimated as 80% of
the open circuit voltage at reference condition and considered
as useful property for designing power conditioning unit.
The cell temperature
of PV module can be calculated by
measuring the nominal operating cell temperature (NOCT)
under following conditions at open circuit such as irradiance
0.8 kW/m2, Spectral distribution is AM1.5, ambient
temperature 20 C and wind speed is greater than 1 m/s. The
value of NOCT usually found in between 42 C and 46 C.

Step 1: First, calculation of amount of energy generated by PV

plant or module considered under case study. For the
calculation of energy output of PV plant or module, the
conversion efficiency of plant or module must be known
which is commonly provided by manufacturer in module
datasheet.
Step 2: As the performance of PV module could not be same
for entire lifetime that decreased with lifespan of module in
outdoor conditions. Hence, most of the time average
efficiency is considered for energy calculation based on
performance rate of PV module in actual conditions.
Step 3: Average solar radiation of particular location must be
known where PV plant or module is installed along with the
area occupied plant and module in that location.

(8)
Step 4: The output energy is calculated above for one day, it
can be extended to year by multiplying the number clear sky
days in particular location.

(9)
Step 5: The average value of carbon emission reduction is
0.932 tonnes per megawatt hours of electricity generated by
PV systems [11, 13]

(5)
The maximum power point of PV module can be
determined at given operating temperature and Irradiance also
use the fill factor which is independent of temperature and
irradiance. The fill factor is significant feature of module
characteristics which measure the quality of solar cell and it
can be defined as ratio of the maximum power or rated power
of PV module to maximum theoretical possible power of PV
module, is given as
(6)
Now, the maximum power point is calculated as
(7)

(10)
Step 6: The carbon credit earned per tonne of carbon emission
reduced is determined, if CO2 emission reduction/ MWh /
Year is traded at the rate of USD of 27.5 / tonnes [12, 13]:

(11)
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A 250 Wp module of Tata solar power is taken as case
study for the current research. A Matlab simulation is carried
out to know the effect of environmental parameters on the
output power of PV module. The manufacturer data sheet of
PV module is given in Table I . Solar PV module does not
operate under standard conditions in real world due to the
intermittent nature of temperature and irradiance which affect
the output power.

B. Calculation of carbon emission reduction

The calculation of carbon emission reduction is carried out
by following steps
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TABLE I.

MANUFACTURER DATASHEET OF 250 WP MODULE

(MULTICRYSTALLINE) OF TATA SOLAR POWER

Current Temperature Coefficient

0.0638 %/ 0C

Voltage Temperature Coefficient

-0.3305 %/ 0C

Short Circuit Current

8.71 A

Open Circuit Voltage

37.3 V

Maximum Power Point Current

8.30 A

Maximum Power Point Voltage

Number of solar cells in series

30.2V

Area of module

1.6 m2

60

Finally, complete content and organizational editing before

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A. Solar irradiance effects
When the photon flux of higher band gap energy strikes on
the solar cells, it generates current known as light generated
current. As the irradiance increases, the flux of photons
increases in the same proportion which ultimately increases
the light generated current and hence, the output power of PV
module raised. The variation of generated current and output
power with irradiance are shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b). The
solar cell characteristics is given in Fig. 2(a) signifies that
short circuit current is directly proportional to irradiance and
it can be seen from the figure that change in voltage is very
small so it can be neglected in practical applications. The
output power of PV module is decreased with the decrease of
short circuit current is the result of reduced solar radiation, can
be derived from Eqn. (4) and (7) and shown in Fig. 2 (c).
B. Temperature
This is also an important parameter in deciding the output
power of PV module in real outdoor conditions. The open
circuit voltage is most significant parameter of temperature

(a)

(b)

dependent has negative temperature coefficient which results

in the increased temperature of PV module reduces the open
circuit voltage, can be calculated from Eqn. (3) and shown in
Fig. 3 (a). Commonly, voltage temperature coefficient of each
PV module specified in manufacturer data sheet. The short
circuit current variation with respect to temperature is much
smaller and less useful in practical system design in case of
temperature variation. The fill factor also has much smaller
variation related to temperature variation. The reduction in
output power with high temperature is shown in Fig. 3(b),
which is result of decreased open circuit voltage with
increased temperature.
C. Carbon emission reduction
Carbon emission reduction by 250 Wp module of Tata solar
power is calculated by following the steps mentioned in
methodology section. The manufacturer datasheet is given in
Table I in order to calculate the fill factor and efficiency of PV
module. Hence the fill factor f PV module is given as
FF=(8.30*30.2)/(8.71*37.3) 0.7715, then efficiency of PV
module is

The efficiency of 250 Wp PV module is 15.66 % at

reference condition, but it may vary at real outdoor condition
with temperature and solar radiation variation. Hence for the
current study, the efficiency is taken as average value of 14 %
for further calculation.

(c)

Fig. 2 (a) I-V characteristics at different solar irradiance (b) P-V curve at
different solar irradiance (c) P-I curve at different solar irradiance

Now according to step 3, if this PV module is installed at

Roorkee, Uttarakhand, which has a continental climate with
annual mean daily solar radiation is about 5.22 kWh/ m2. The
output energy of PV module is calculated by referring Eqn. (8)

India has an average 300 clear sky days, so considering same

for Roorkee, using Eqn. (9) yearly output energy is calculated
is given as

Referring the Eqn. (10)

Carbon credit earned is calculated by using Eqn. (11), as

follows

As on 29-Jun-2016, 1 USD =67.47 Indian Rupee, Hence

USD 9.0 =607.27 Indian Rupee.

CONCLUSION

Fig. 3 (a) I-V curve at different module temperature (b) P- V curve at different
module temperature

(c) P-I curve at different module temperature

In this study, effect of environmental parameters is presented

on the PV systems and concluded that variation of solar
radiation and ambient temperature show the remarkable
impact on the output power of PV modules. A Matlab
simulation results shows that increase of solar radiation raises
the light generated current and show the negligible changes in
voltage. At the same time, high level of solar radiation
intensity can sometimes increases the cell temperature which
has negative impact on the output power. In simulation results,
a significant impact of temperature is shown that rise in solar
cell temperature results in the reduction of open circuit
voltage, which ultimately reduces the output power. As solar
energy is clean source of energy, current study authenticate
this by reducing the carbon emission to the environment using
PV panel as energy source. It is concluded from the study
that, the 250 Wp of multicrystalline PV module, Tata solar
power make, at Roorkee, Uttarakhand contribute the
0.33tonnes CO2 emission reduction/ MWh / Year and this
much rated power module helps in earning of carbon credit of
USD 9.0
and 607.27 Indian Rupee. Finally, it can be
concluded that investment in solar photovoltaic energy is
fruitful in generation of clean energy, reduction of carbon
emission and earning of carbon credit which can be used for
trading with other countries for revenue generation.

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