DETERMINATION OF THE IRRADIATION DEPENDENT EFFICIENCY OF

MULTICRYSTALLINE Si PV MODULES ON BASIS OF IV CURVE FITTING

AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE ANNUAL PERFORMANCE
J.A. Eikelboom1 and A.H.M.E. Reinders2
1: Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN
2: University of Utrecht, Dept. of Science, Technology and Society, The Netherlands
corr. address : PO Box 1, 1755 ZG PETTEN - The Netherlands
email : eikelboom@ecn.nl - fax : 31 224 56 3214
ABSTRACT: PV modules can be characterised by their maximum power at Standard Test Conditions, STC. It is well
known that PV modules rarely operate under these circumstances. For a calculation of the annual energy collection the
efficiency of the module as a function of the irradiance should be known, as well as the influence of the module temperature, the spectral distribution of the light and the angle of incidence, on the maximum power point of the module. It
is investigated how well the efficiency of a particular set of multicrystalline PV modules at light intensities and module
temperatures other than at STC can be predicted from a limited number of outdoor IV measurements and their characteristical two-diode model parameters of the IV curves. Some model parameters were found to depend on the irradiance. The efficiency curve calculated on basis of the two-diode model and the experimentally determined efficiency
curve were used to calculate the yearly energy collection for two locations.
Keywords: PV module 1 : Qualification and Testing 2 : Performance - 3

1. INTRODUCTION
The characterisation of a PV module by a single number
has an attractive simplicity. It has become accepted to rate
the PV module according to its maximum power at
1000 W/m2, 25 C and spectral distribution according to
AM1.5, Standard Test Conditions, STC. However, at other
temperatures and lighting conditions the efficiency at
which energy is converted into electricity is different from
the module efficiency at STC, see [1]. As the buyer is
mostly interested in the energy produced during a certain
period, various attempts have been made to provide the
necessary information for these calculations. Typically,
this means that the response of the PV module or the PV
system to specific meteorological conditions is determined. However the chosen meteorological conditions at
the same time limit the usefulness of these approaches in
cases of locations where modules operate under different
conditions.
The aim of this article is to search for an adequate characterisation of the behaviour of a PV module under various
meteorological conditions, which will allow an adequate
estimation of the energy collection by the module. The
characterisation is done by fitting experimentally determined I-V curves of a PV module by the so-called twodiode model. The two-diode model parameters can be
linked to physical properties of the cell. It will be investigated how well these parameters can predict the behaviour
of the PV module under field conditions.

Regression (ODR) has been used for the fitting algorithm,

[2]. It takes account of measurement errors in both the
voltage- and the current measurements and will lead to
more reliable model parameters.The two-diode model is
shown in figure 1.
I
Ilt

I01

I02

Rse
Rsh

Figure 1 : Schematic drawing of the two-diode model

I-V curves are fitted using the standard formula

I (V ) =

V*
V*
V*
+ I01 exp 1 + I02 exp
1 + Ilt
Rsh
Vb
2Vb

Here I01 and I02 are the diode saturation currents, Ilt the
light generated current, Vb the thermal voltage and Rse and
Rsh are the series and shunt resistances. V* is the voltage
over the diodes and is given by V*=V-Rse I(V). The twodiode model can be applied to single cells and to PV
modules, where a number of cells is connected in series.
This equivalent circuit is based on the assumptions that

the principle of superposition is valid, see [3]

all resistance parts are lumped in discrete resistors

2. IV CURVE FITTING AND THE TWO-DIODE

MODEL

diode quality factors are equal to 1 and 2 respectively,

and independent from temperature and voltage levels

Straight forward least squares fitting of I-V curves leads to

non-optimal fits: residuals around and above the open
circuit voltage Voc dominate the fit, leading to a bad fit at
the maximum power point and lower voltage values.
Voltage noise has a big influence on fitting due to the
steep slope of an I-V curve for higher voltages. For this
reason the mathematical method Orthogonal Distance

All parameters depend strongly on the semiconductor

material and the cell production process. Several relations
for the temperature dependence of I01 and I02 have been
published. The temperature dependence here is assumed
to be as follows [4],[5]:

 Eg (T )
I 01 = K1 T 3 exp

kT
E g (T )
exp

2kT

where Eg(T) is the temperature dependence of the bandgap. The strong temperature dependence of the parameters
I01 and I02 makes it necessary to perform accurate measurements of the cell temperature in the experiments. The
inaccuracy of the model parameters as determined by the
fit of cell and module IV curves is around 7%.

3. MEASUREMENTS ON PV CELLS
In outdoor experiments variations in the irradiance lead
automatically to changes in the module temperature. In the
laboratory the temperature and the irradiance can be controlled. For this reason the IV curves of single solar cells
were measured to investigate the dependences on temperature and irradiance and to determine the effect on the twodiode model parameters. For this experiment a single
unincapsulated cell similar to the ones in the PV modules
to be tested was available. The IV characteristics were
measured with a solar simulator. By means of grey filters
the light intensity incident on the cells could be varied
without changing the spectral composition of the light. By
changing the temperature setpoint of the cooling chuck on
which the cell was placed the cell temperature could be
varied between 19 C and 31C.
Measurement

1 Z
T = 25 C
Z T

The temperature coefficient of the short circuit current is

experimentally determined to be -510-4, the TC of the
MPP -4.510-3. Simulations with calculated IV curves
where the TC of the short circuit current and the cited
temperature dependence for I01 and I02 with the values of
table I are used, result in the temperature coefficients for
MPP : -4.5010-3, Voc : -3.5910-3 and FF : -1.4110-3.
These values are in good agreement with the experimental
results for the cell. Figure 2 shows the measured dependence of the model parameters on the intensity of the illumination under the solar simulator. The cell temperature
was 25C. Especially Rsh and I02 are seen to depend on the
light intensity. To our knowledge there is no known theory
to explain this dependence.
Normalized to value at 1000 W/m 2

I 02 = K 2 T

2 .5

TC(part / C ) =

1.6
Irr. vs I01
Irr. vs I02
Irr. vs Rsh
Irr. vs Rse

1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Irradiance, W/m2

#1
19.0

#2
24.9

#3
29.6

Figure 2 : Dependence of the model parameters of the cell

on the light intensity measured with a solar simulator

I01, 10-10, A

0.771
2.834
0.691

0.765
2.837
1.88

0.761
2.848
3.95

4. MEASUREMENTS ON PV MODULES

I02, 10-5, A

0.690

1.03

1.42

Temp., C
FF
Ilt, A

Rsh,

13.9

14.0

14.5

Rse, m

0.94

1.99

2.06

Table I : Measured and calculated model parameters for a

single mc-Si cell at various temperatures
Table I shows the results of the fits of three I-V curves
measured at various temperatures. The temperature is
determined from the measured Voc, based on the assumption that for every degree Celsius Voc increases with
2.15 mV. The values of I01 , I02 and fill factor corrected for
25C for the three measurements are I01 :1.90-1.90-1.84
10-10, I02 :1.14-1.03-0.9810-5 and for the fill factor FF
0.764-0.765-0.765. Taking into account the accuracy of
the parameters it is seen that the temperature corrected
values for I01 and I02 are in relatively good agreement to
the value measured at 25C. Note that the fill-factor too
depends on the temperature and that the calculations
result in almost equal values for FF at 25C. From the
measured IV curves of table I the temperature coefficient
of the Maximum Power Point MPP can be determined.The
temperature coefficient TC of a given parameter Z is
defined as

Four mc-Si PV modules have been placed with a south

orientation and a tilt angle of 30 on a roof. Large numbers of IV measurements have been performed between
February and August 1996. The modules have been sent to
JRC-Ispra, where their STC efficiency was determined.
Given the JRC value of the STC short circuit current the
irradiance could be determined for every IV curve. All IV
curves were fitted to the two-diode model. Here the experimental results of one of these modules will be presented, they are typical for all four modules. On May 6-th
1996 there was a clear blue sky with temperatures varying
from 5C in the morning up to 33C in the afternoon. On
such a day the temperature, which is measured at the back
of the module, is assumed to be close to the true cell
temperature and the spectrum of the irradiance is as close
as possible to AM1.5. On this day the maximum module
temperature is reached before the maximum in the irradiance. The figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the two-diode model
parameters of the measured IV curves, as determined by
the fit, together with the temperature corrected values for
the two diode parameters I01 and I02. The values of I01 and
I02 as determined by the fit show hysteresis caused by the
temperature variations with respect to the irradiance.

0.4

5e-10
measured data

3e-10

Series resistance,

I 01 , A

4e-10

temperature
corrected data

2e-10
1e-10
0

0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

200

400

Irradiance, W/m2

temperature
corrected data

I02 , A

1.2e-5
1.0e-5
8.0e-6
6.0e-6
4.0e-6
2.0e-6
0.0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Irradiance, W/m2

Figure 4 : I02 as a function of the irradiance, together with

the temperature corrected value

Shunt resistance,

700
600
500
400

By means of temporarily covering the module it was possible to control the module temperature. In this manner IV
curves were measured at 42C and 24C. Table II shows
the measured IV characteristics and their two-diode model
parameters. The STC short circuit current for the module
was determined to be 2.962 A at JRC-Ispra. The data in
the column calculated are determined on basis of the two
measured IV curves and their model parameters. Only the
value for the light generated current Ilt was set as to obtain
the JRC value for the short circuit current Isc , I01 and I02
are the values extrapolated to 25C. Good agreement is
observed between the two simulated IV curves, indicating
that curve fitting to the two-diode model can be a reliable
technique for the transformation of IV curves to different
conditions, [6].
measured
#1
#2
24.2
42.0

calculated
#1
#2
25.0
25.0

I01, 10-10, A

2.945
21.44
0.738
2.946
1.62

2.999
20.14
0.719
3.001
25.0

2.962
21.47
0.739
2.965
1.85

2.962
21.50
0.739
2.965
1.70

I02, 10-5, A

0.753

2.41

0.807

0.594

Rsh,

350

301

350

301

Rse, m

328

369

328

369

number
200
200

400

600

800

1200

Figure 6 : Rse as a function of the irradiance

300

1000

For the single cell at 25C it was seen that I02 did depend
on the irradiance. The shunt resistance shows for all four
modules a marked dependence on the irradiance: its value
increases at low light levels. The increase in modules is
larger than the one observed for the cell. The series resistance is also seen to be a function of the irradiance, it
decreases at low light levels. The series resistance of the
module corrected for the number of cells is larger than that
observed for the single cell. This could be caused by the
interconnection of the cells. In contrast to the cell measurements no dependence on the temperature is observed.

measured data

1.4e-5

800

Irradiance, W/m2

Figure 3 : I01 as a function of the irradiance, together with

the temperature corrected value
1.6e-5

600

1000

1200

Irradiance, W/m2

Figure 5 : Rsh as a function of the irradiance

The fact that the corresponding curves for the series and
shunt resistance show no hysteresis indicates that these
parameters are not dependent on the temperature, which is
conform the laboratory measurements. After the temperature correction it is seen that I01 and I02 are fairly independent of the irradiance. The remaining hysteresis in the
temperature corrected data indicates the limitations of the
model used. For the calculated efficiency the influence of
this remaining effect is small.

Temp., C
Isc, A
Voc, V
FF
Ilt, A

Table II : Measured IV and two-diode model parameters

and the corresponding values for the STC short circuit
current and 25C.
5. ANNUAL ENERGY COLLECTION

When the efficiency of a module as a function of the irradiance is known, as well as the temperature coefficient of
the Maximum Power Point, it is possible to calculate the
annual energy collection for a module at a specific location. The calculations are performed for a module temperature of 25C.
14

measured
data

Efficiency, %

12
10

constant
parameters

6
4
0

200

400

De Bilt
1074
138.3
129.8
129.6

Cagliari
1854
238.9
232.0
232.0

125.6

228.0

Table III : Annual energy collection Ea from simulations

for PV module with 45 tilt angle, Hi,ref is the in-plane
irradiation measured with a reference cell

variable
parameters

Location
Hi,ref
Ea with constant STC efficiency
Ea with measured efficiency
Ea with efficiency
for Rsh (G), Rse(G)
Ea, with efficiency
forRsh,Rse=k

600

800

1000

1200

Irradiance, W/m2

Figure 7 : Measured efficiency and efficiencies calculated

with the two-diode model with constant and variable
parameters
In case of the modules the series and shunt resistance were
found to depend on the irradiance. Figure 7 shows the
measured efficiency, the efficiency calculated by means of
the two-diode model where all model parameters, except
the light generated current, are constant at their STC
values, as well as the efficiency where Rsh and Rse do
depend on the irradiance in a linear fashion.
The measured efficiencies are determined on the above
mentioned day May 6 th, temperature corrected efficiencies from the entire measurement period show small
spread around these shown values. It is seen that the
efficiency curve with constant parameters underestimates
the efficiency at low light levels. The efficiency calculated
with resistances which depend linearly on the irradiance
shows good agreement with the measured data.
For two locations, De Bilt (NL) and Cagliari (I) the annual
energy collection is calculated for a south-facing module
of 25C with a 45 tilt angle, with the three curves from
figure 7. The calculations are based on hourly global
irradiance data as provided by a Test Reference Year of
both locations. Tilt conversion is performed with the Perez
model, reflection losses are taken account of and a spectral
correction factor of 0.98 is applied.
The results are shown in table III. It is seen that the differences in simulated energy collection between the three
efficiency curves of figure 7 are small. The difference
between the energy collection based on simulations with
constant nominal efficiency and those based on the irradiance dependent efficiency is called the low irradiance
loss.

For De Bilt the relative low irradiance loss varies from

6.1% for the measured energy curve up to 9.2% for the
curve based on constant model parameters. For Cagliari
the relative low irradiance loss varies from 2.9% for the
measured energy curve up to 4.6%. For modules which are
mounted vertically facing southwards the relative low
irradiance losses for the constant parameter approach are
13% for De Bilt and 9% for Cagliari.

6. CONCLUSIONS
For this set of multicrystalline modules the two-diode
model fit is a useful way of characterising the IV curves.
The temperature dependence of the diode saturation currents can be used for determining the behaviour of the
module as a function of temperature. The shunt and series
resistances of the model are found to depend on the irradiance. The efficiency as a function of the irradiance can be
calculated with a fair degree of accuracy from the STC IV
curve. Low irradiance losses however are determined with
low accuracy. It remains to be investigated how well this
model can describe IV curves of silicon based PV modules
in general, especially at low level irradiances.
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work has been funded by the Netherlands Agency for
Energy and the Environment Novem under contract
nr. 146.100-032.4.
8. REFERENCES
[1] K. Bcher, 13-th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy
conference and Exhibition, Nice (1995) 2097
[2] A.R. Burgers, J.A. Eikelboom, A. Schnecker and
W.C. Sinke, 25-th IEEE PVSC (1996) 569
[3] J. Beier, Thesis Universitt Freiburg, 1992
[4] G.L. Araujo, E. Snchez, M. Marti, Solar Cells, 5
(1982) 199
[5] W. Knaup, 22nd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Confer
ence, Las Vegas (1991) 620
[6] S. Coors and M. Bhm, Zwlftes Symposium Photovoltaische Solarenergie, Staffelstein (1997) 314

kWh/m2