Photovoltaic module cell temperature estimation: Developing a novel expression

Energy efficiency is one of the most important issues of today. The limited reserves of fossil fuels make the use of renewable energy sources more attractive. Photovoltaic panels are one of the ways to utilize solar energy, which is one of the renewable energy sources.The instantaneous efficiency of photovoltaic panels is related to the cell temperature of the panels. In the current studies in the literature, there are empirical expressions that give the photovoltaic panel cell temperature, but the results obtained from these expressions do not overlap with each other. In order to obtain the instan-taneous efficiencies of photovoltaic panels and, accordingly, the production values theoretically, there is a need for a global expression that gives the photovoltaic panel cell temperature. In this study, a global expression was developed that gives the photovoltaic panel cell temperature depending on the ambient temperature, solar ra-diation and wind speed. In addition, using the meteorological data of Kutahya for many years, expressions giving ambient temperature, solar radiation and wind speed were created.