Investigation of datasheet provided temperature coefficients of photovoltaic modules under various sky profiles at the field by applying a new validation procedure

Abstract

In this study, datasheet provided temperature coefficients of commercially available photovoltaic modules were investigated by taking into account the actual performance parameters (output peak power, short-circuit current and open-circuit current) under different sky profiles (clear, partly cloudy and cloudy) at field by introducing a new validation procedure. This procedure is based on two cases. The first case covers irradiation and temperature whereas the second case covers only irradiation by neglecting the temperature coefficient parts in the actual performance parameters calculation. The actual performance parameters of mono crystalline silicon and cupper indium gallium selenide photovoltaic modules were measured under different sky profiles at field and calculated for considered cases. Measured and calculated results were compared by using the root mean square error and the relative mean error tools. It has been founded that temperature coefficients of commercially available photovoltaic modules could deviate from their datasheet provided values under cloudy sky profile at field. As a result of this, it has been concluded that users should take into account sky profiles at the site where photovoltaic modules are going to be deployed in order to calculate the actual performance parameters and the output energy accurately. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.