Impact of the cell temperature on the energy efficiency of a single glass PV module: thermal modeling in steady-state and validation by experimental data

Abstract

This paper deals with a simplified and meaningful thermal model used to extract the cell temperature of a photovoltaic (PV) module. This model that takes into account the ambient temperature, incident irradiance and wind velocity is calibrated using a complete experimental database. The results of the thermal modeling provide a heat transfer coefficient law that could be implemented into a PV simulation tool. Two key elements of this approach may be highlighted. The results enable to better calculate the solar energy production of a PV module and to predict the energy efficiency of a PV system.