Parameters extraction of photovoltaic sources based on experimental data

Abstract

This article presents an accurate computational technique for estimating the photovoltaic (PV) cell parameters from experimental measurements of the current‐voltage ( I – V ) characteristics. The technique is based on using various evolutionary algorithms (EAs) and the double‐diode eight‐parameter cell model to precisely estimate unknown parameters. The proposed technique is implemented to extract the PV cell parameters of different manufacturer's modules by minimising the summation of absolute square errors between theoretical and measured I – V output characteristics obtained under different irradiation levels. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed technique are demonstrated via a comparative assessment of the measured output I – V characteristics and those obtained by computer simulation, using Matlab SIMSCAPE library components. The good agreement obtained between theoretical and experimental results endorses the proposed approach to determine precisely the PV parameters required for power system studies. The proposed technique is useful power system studies with penetration of photovoltaic sources.