Solar Energy, Vol.181, 169-177, 2019
Spectral mismatch correction factor for precise outdoor performance evaluation and description of performance degradation of different-type photovoltaic modules
Outdoor performance (outdoor short-circuit current (I-SC)) of test photovoltaic (PV) modules, namely (1) multi crystalline silicon (mc-Si), (2) heterostructure-with-intrinsic-thin-layer (HIT), (3) single-crystalline silicon back contact (BC), (4) CuInSe2, and (5) CdTe modules, was adjusted for their corrected Isc utilizing a PV module irradiance sensor (PVMS), which is a single-crystalline silicon PV module. The PVMS was used to estimate the simultaneous irradiance (Irr) and spectral mismatch correction factor (MMPVMS). Errors between the corrected I-SC (outdoor measurement) estimated under various Irr values and I-SC (indoor measurement) obtained under standard test condition were next investigated. Since spectral responses of me-Si, HIT, and BC test PV modules are similar to that of PVMS, their outdoor I-SC values were only corrected by the simultaneous Irr for Irr correction, thus decreasing the error (median of below +/- 1.03%). On the other hand, as spectral response of CdTe module is different from that of PVMS, the outdoor I-SC value of the CdTe module was corrected by not only simultaneous Irr but also MMPVMS to correct spectral mismatch between PVMS and CdTe module, thereby reducing the error (median of below +/- 1.06%). Moreover, description of the change (degradation) rate of performance of test PV modules using simultaneous Irr and MMPVMS was examined.
Keywords:Spectral mismatch correction factor;PV module irradiance sensor;Short-circuit current;Performance degradation