Comparison of calibrations of a single-diode model of photovoltaic module performance using performance matrix vs. specification datasheet

Two novel parameter-fitting methods were developed to calibrate a six-parameter single-diode model (SDM) for the performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules. One model-calibration method used the short-circuit current, maximum power, and open-circuit voltage points, in addition to the temperature coefficients at these points, all at standard test conditions (STC). This represented a limited set of performance information commonly reported by a manufacturer's specification datasheet. These parameter fits were evaluated by the calibrated model's ability to predict the maximum-power performance of nine different commercial makes of monofacial PV modules over a range of operating conditions, which were a superset of the IEC 61853-1 standard reporting "matrix"of performance vs. irradiance and temperature. Reasonable performance prediction was found away from STC for most parameter fits, with some notable exceptions. The other model-calibration method calibrated the same SDM using the data from the full performance matrix and no temperature coefficients. Overall for crystalline silicon modules, away-from-STC performance predictions from the model calibrated using the full performance matrix were significantly better than those from the same model calibrated using the STC-only specification-datasheet information.