Photovoltaic Electricity Generator Dynam PDF

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser
Photovoltaic electricity generator dynamic modeling methods

for smart grid applications: A review
Sam Koohi-Kamal a,n, N.A. Rahim a, H. Mokhlis a,b, V.V. Tyagi c
a
UM Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre (UMPEDAC), Level 4, Wisma, R&D UM, Jalan Pantai Baharu, 59990 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
School of Energy Management, Faculty of Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra 182320, (J & K), India
b
art ic l e i nf o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 12 June 2014
Received in revised form
29 September 2015
Accepted 17 December 2015
Available online 4 January 2016
This paper presents a comprehensive review on mathematical modeling methods of photovoltaic (PV)
solar cell/module/array which can be used for power system dynamic modeling purpose. The intermittent and non-linear properties of PV solar cells necessitate accurate modeling of such elements for
power system studies. Large scale integration of photovoltaic distributed generation (PVDG) systems into
the smart power grid can adversely affect the stability of whole network if the solar plant is not designed
properly. A model of solar cell which can predict the PV system output precisely would be helpful to
improve reliability and stability of the intelligent utility network. For the smart grid applications which
integrate the rapidly growing technologies together with renewable resources, the suitable dynamic
model of PV plant is very essential at preliminary evaluation steps. In this paper, a new classication is
presented on existing PV cell/module/array modeling methods. Modeling techniques are categorized in
two main classes, namely, circuitry based methods and equation based methods. The former class
encompasses two sub-classes i.e. embedded function blocks (EFBs) and piecewise linear circuit (PLC)
techniques. The second class also consists of two sub-classes i.e. analytical and numerical techniques. The
characteristics of each class and its sub-classes are also analyzed and compared to others. Comparison
between the methods in both categories indicates that the former class is easy to implement in power
system simulation software. The latter class can be exploited to estimate parameters of solar cell in
collaboration with EFBs method and vice versa. The second class is more accurate than the rst although
its computational burden is further. It is envisaged that this paper can serve researchers and designers
who work in the eld of solar power plant dynamic modeling as useful source of information.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Renewable energy
Distributed generation
Solar PV plant
Power systems
Smart grid
Contents
1.
2.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Photovoltaic system modeling methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.
Circuitry based methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1.
Embedded function blocks (EFBs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2.
Piecewise linear circuit (PLC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.
Equation based methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1.
Analytical techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.2.
Numerical techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Comparison between the methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corresponding author. Tel.: 60 322463246; fax: 60 322463257.

E-mail address: sam.koohi@gmail.com (S. Koohi-Kamal).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.137
1364-0321/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172
Nomenclature
T
Temperature difference between the module temperature and the STC temperature (K)
A( n )Ideality factor of 1st diode in two-diode model of
PV cell
a1
Ideality factor of 1st diode in two-diode model of
PV cell
a2
Ideality factor of 2nd diode in two-diode model of
PV cell
ANN
Articial neural network
BIPV
Building integrated photovoltaic
CMPPT Current-based computational MPPT
CSI
Irradiation correction coefcient for cell output
current
CSV
Irradiation correction coefcient for cell output
voltage
CTI
Temperature correction coefcient for cell output
current
CTV
Temperature correction coefcient for cell output
voltage
DE
Differential evolution
Dp
Diode representing peripheral effect
DSSC
Dye-sensitized solar cell
Eg
Band gap energy of PV material (1.17 eV for Si
materials)
EMTDC Electromagnetic transients including DC
EMTP
Electromagnetic transient program
G
Solar irradiance (kW/m2)
GNG
Growing neural gas
Gr
Reference irradiance under standard test condition
(W/m2)
GUI
Graphical user interface
I0
Reverse saturation current (A)
I01
Reverse saturation current of 1st diode in two-diode
PV cell model (A)
I02
Reverse saturation current of 1st diode in two-diode
PV cell model (A)
ID1
1st Diode current in two-diode solar cell model (A)
ID2
2nd Diode current in two-diode solar cell model (A)
Im,ref
Current at MPP (A) at STC normally available in
manufacturer's datasheet
IMPP
Output current at maximum power point (A)
Iph
Photon current (A)
Irs
Reverse saturation current at STC (A)
Is
Saturation current (A)
Isat,r
Reference diode saturation current under standard
test condition (A)
Isc,ref
Short-circuit current (A) at STC normally available in
Isc,STC
Short circuit current at STC
J01
Saturation current density for D1 diode
J02
Saturation current density for D2 diode
J0p
Current density through Dp diode
J2
Current density through D2 diode
k( kB) Boltzmann constant (1.3806488 10 23 J/K)
Ki
Short-circuit current coefcient
Kv
Open circuit voltage coefcient
kWp
Kilowatt peak
LSR
Least square regression
m4
Slope of 4th segment in
Mc-Si
Multicrystalline silicon
MPP
Maximum power point
MPPT
Maximum power point tracker
Np
Number of PV cells in parallel
Ns
Number of PV cells in series
P&O
Perturbation and Observation
Piecewise Linear PWL
Piecewise Linear Circuit PLC
PLPB
Piecewise linear parallel branch
Pmax,e
Maximum power calculated experimentally
Pmax,m
Maximum power calculated mathematically
PMPP
Output power at maximum power point
PSCAD Power System Computer Aided Design
PSO
Particle Swarm Optimization
PV
Photovoltaic
PVA
PV Array
PVDG
Photovoltaic distributed generation
PWL
Piecewise linear
q
Electron charge (1.60217733 10 19 C)
r
Ratio of recombination area
Rp
Resistance of peripheries ()
RP Rsh Parallel resistance of PV equivalent circuit ()
RS
Series resistance of PV equivalent circuit ()
Rs1
First component of series resistance ()
Rs2
Second component of series resistance ()
Rsho
Effective resistance at short-circuit ()
Rsub
Resistance representing substrate and microscopic
inhomogeneity ()
Sc
Benchmark reference solar irradiation level during the
test condition
STFT
Special transfer function theory
SUR
Modied GaussSeidel method
Sx
New level of the solar irradiation
T
Absolute temperature (K)
Ta
Ambient temperature (K)
TLBO
Teaching learning based optimization
Tr
Reference cell temperature under standard test condition (K)
Tref
Reference temperature (25 C)
Tx
New level of the solar temperature
UPS
Uninterruptable Power Supply
VBA
Visual Basic for Applications
Vbr
Breakdown voltage (V)
Vm,ref
Voltage at MPP (V) at STC normally available in manufacturer's datasheet
VMPP
Voltage at maximum power point (V)
VMPPT
Voltage-based computational MPPT
Voc,ref
Open-circuit voltage (V) at STC normally available in
VOC,STC PV cell open-circuit voltage at standard test
conditions (V)
VT
Thermal voltage (V)
VT1
Thermal voltage of 1st diode in PV cell two-diode
model (V)
VT2
Thermal voltage of 2nd diode in PV cell two-diode
model (V)
Current temperature coefcient

ref
The value of at reference condition
Avalanche breakdown exponent

isc( i) Short-circuit current temperature coefcient (A/K)
voc
Open-circuit voltage temperature coefcient (V/K)
Solar irradiance (W/m2)
1. Introduction
The application of photovoltaic distributed generation (PVDG)
systems, either as standalone or grid-connected plants, has been
growing over the last decade. The latest studies in the eld of
renewable energy systems (RESs) conrm the ever-increasing
growth in usage of RESs to globally comply with technical, economic, and legal requirements. The majority of these studies have
put emphasize on two types of renewable energy (RE) prime
movers which are solar and wind energies. Solar photovoltaic (PV)
seems to be more attractive than the others since it is noiseless,
easy to operate, almost maintenance free, and has no carbon
footprint. The cumulative global capacity of installed solar PV
system was about 9.2 GW by the end of 2007. According to IEA
PVPS annual report [1], this value grew to 125 GW (for IEA PVPS
countries) by the end of 2014. For the time being, Germany and
Italy are the leader countries in installation of solar PV systems
(about 74%). Meanwhile, more than 93% of solar PV systems were
installed in the US, Japan, and France in 2009. In this year, the
global installed capacity of solar PV system was approximated to
be about 7 GW in whole world. The International Energy Agency
(IEA) estimates that solar power is able to supply as much as 11% of
worldwide electricity generation by 2050. The European Council
has decided to encourage the world to supply their energy needs
(20% of total need) from RE resources. Taking into account these
issues, solar PV market is very competitive and hence solar PV
array manufacturers try to actively improve their products in
terms of quality and price [2].
The interconnection of PVDG systems into distribution networks changes the traditional passive power systems to active. In
active networks, the electrical energy can ow in both directions
and hence the demand side can also contribute in the generation
of electricity [3]. This can bring tremendous technical and economic benets to both utility companies and customers. Localized
generation of electricity, loss reduction, voltage improvement,
frequency control, and net metering are among examples brought
to this end. At the same time, the technical impacts due to PVDG
integration have to be studied for planning and operating purposes. The technical impact of PVDG can be assessed by power
system studies i.e. steady-state and/or dynamic analyses [4].
Steady-state such as load ow and fault analyses are fundamental
investigations that can evaluate the ow of power and fault current when PVDG is present in the system. These studies are
important in the planning stage which suitable location and generation capacity for the solar PV plant is determined through. In
addition, dynamic studies (e.g. small signal stability analysis) are
necessary to assess overall power grid permanence and design
robust control systems [58].
The accurate model of solar PV generator can be exploited to
precisely model and evaluate smart grid operation. Smart grid
integrates modern digital technologies to manage the power
generation, transmission, and consumption between distributed
energy resources (DERs), demand, and the main supply. It utilizes
communication channels between smart generators and consumers to exchange and monitor operating data. These characteristics improve the operation of whole grid and balance
between the generation, load, environment, and economic constraints. To design a smart power grid, it is necessary to technically
evaluate the system in advance. Comprehensive studies are
required to guarantee the dynamic and transient stability of smart
grid and thus to implement it physically. Dynamic studies can be
conducted through modeling of system components (i.e. generators, loads, and controllers) in evaluation software. To obtain an
accurate model, the mathematical formulation which represents
the behavior of an element should be obtained properly and
embedded in the software. For example, non-linear equations of
133
PV generator, derived through its equivalent circuit, must accurately approximate the relationship between its input and output
parameters. The more the precise dynamic model, the more the
reliable response can be expected from the implemented system
in the software.
In a PVDG system, a solar cell is the smallest unit of a PV
generator. The parallel and/or series connections between solar
cells make a PV module and further a PV array. Operation of the PV
generator depends on PV cell under variable environmental conditions together with the power system which is connected to [9].
For the time being, different types of solar PV technology are
available in the market [10]. The dynamic properties of each type
defers from the others. PV array manufacturers normally provide
their customers with datasheet of their products under standard
test condition (STC). Such information is normally unusable and
hence can be estimated for actual operating conditions through
dynamic modeling.
In a solar PV plant, it is also compulsory to look into the
dynamics of power conditioning unit (e.g. converter) connected to
PV array. The operating point of PV array is highly dependent to
the load characteristic. Power converter captures the maximum
power produced by the PV array through impedance matching at
the PV array output terminal. To control power converter, different
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques have been
proposed by the literature [1116].
For all aforementioned reasons, accurate dynamic modeling of
solar PV generator is essential for the fast developing technologies
which integrate RESs with smart grid application.
The purpose of this review article is to analyze solar PV cell/
module/array modeling techniques and compare them together.
This paper can provide researcher and engineers who actively
work in the area of power system dynamic studies with complete
source of information about the solar cell modeling techniques.
The readers can trade off easily between the methods since the
modeling techniques together with their implementation
approaches are presented in this paper.
Different classications for PV cell/module/array modeling
techniques based on uniform and non-uniform irradiation have
been proposed by the literature [17]. In this paper, most recent
solar cell modeling techniques are reviewed and classied. Each
class has its own characteristics that are investigated as well. There
are two main classes, namely, circuitry based methods and equation based methods. Each class is divided into two sub-classes
which are embedded function blocks (EFBs) and piecewise linear
circuit (PLC) techniques for the former as well as analytical and
numerical techniques for the latter, respectively.
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 explains about the
PV equivalent circuits (see Table 1) and then the rst and second
classes of modeling methods are analyzed in this section. Section 3
presents the comparison between the modeling techniques.
Finally, concluding remarks are described in Section 4.
2. Photovoltaic system modeling methods

2.1. Circuitry based methods
Different equivalent circuit models for solar photovoltaic (PV)
cell have been proposed so far. Single-diode model is to include
the effects of pn junction and photocurrent. Double-diode model
[18,19] is to make the single-diode model more accurate by considering the recombination effects of carriers. To obtain more
accurate model than 2-diode model, 3-diode model (see Fig. 1) for
multicrystalline silicon PV cells has been proposed by Nishioka
et al. [20]. 3-diode model is useful for those PV cell (small size i.e.
about 3 mm 3 mm) applications where the amount of high
134
Table 1
PV solar cell equivalent circuits and associated parameters.
Model
Number of Diode(s)
Number of parameters
Abbreviation
Single-diode
1D3P
1D4P
1D5P
2D5P
2D6P
2D7P
Double-diode
PV cell equivalent circuits and parameters
135
Table 1 (continued )
Triple-diode
3D7P
3D8P
3D9P
I01: Saturation current due to diffusion mechanism.

I02: Saturation current due because of recombination in space-charge region.
I03: Leakage current through the peripheries.
a01: Diode ideality factor for diffusion current.
a02: Diode ideality factor for generation-recombination current.
a03: Diode ideality factor for leakage current through the peripheries.
Rsh: Shunt resistance of PV cell.
Rs: Series resistance of PV cell.
leakage current through peripheries is not negligible and hence it

should be included in the model. If 3-diode model is not utilized,
the leakage current through the peripheries makes it difcult to t
the IV curve accurately. Using only Rsh , to take into account the
leakage current, cannot guarantee the precise tting of IV curve.
Thus, another diode which is the representative for this huge
current can be added to 2-diode model.
As depicted in Fig. 1, there are eight parameters in 3-diode
model of PV cell, namely, J 01 , J 02 , J 0p , r, Rs1 , Rsh , and Rp . Rsub is
considered to be a constant value about 0.03 cm2. The leakage
current through Dp diode is effective in low bias area of the IV
curve while the impact of J 2 is remarkable in higher bias region.
These two parameters can be obtained by adjusting Rp c Rs2 . To
obtain an acceptable level of accuracy, the eight tting variables
should be changed until the parameters calculated through the
equations agree with the measured values. Accuracy of this model
has been validated by measuring the parameters during the
operation for small size Mc-Si solar cells.
In the methods based on circuitry, PV cell equivalent circuit can
be implemented in simulation software platform. Circuit oriented
methods are easy to simulate since the conventional circuitry
components available in the library of software are utilized for this
purpose. In this case, the PV system model can be accurately

matched with controllers, maximum power point tracker (MPPT),
DCDC converter, and inverter. Matlab/Simulink, PSpice, PSCAD/
EMTDC are some examples of such software tools that provide
designers with a graphical user interface (GUI) environment in
order to model their PV systems.
2.1.1. Embedded function blocks (EFBs)
In simulation environment, it is possible to mathematically
embed the dynamic model of components in separated computational blocks. These function blocks can be interconnected making
the PV model. The output of this combination can be both PV and
IV characteristics. PV system transient and dynamic studies using
complicated PV array models are not straightforward tasks. A circuit
based model which can easily estimate the photovoltaic cell or
module behavior, with an acceptable degree of accuracy, helps the
electrical engineers to simply understand and hence simulate the
PV systems in GUI based software environments.
A customized equivalent circuit to incorporate the impacts of
series and parallel connections in a PV array has been developed
by Tian et al. [21] using the single-diode model for a single PV cell.
To derive the modied currentvoltage relationships, a single PV
136
Fig. 1. Schematics of equivalent circuits for solar cells without current sources, (a) single-diode model, (b) modied double-diode model and (c) modied 3-diode model
[20].
Fig. 2. Modied equivalent circuit for a solar cell [21].
cell model has been extended to (in parallel and series arrangements) make the module and nally array of solar cells. As shown
in Fig. 2, the external controlled current source is the representative of anti-parallel diode branch. Photocurrent (I irr ) is generated when the cell is in exposure of sunlight. I irr linearly changes
when solar radiation varies and the cell temperature is constant.
I dio is the current which ows through the anti-parallel diode. I P is
the shunt current own due to the presence of shunt resistor (RP ).
Substituting relevant expressions for I dio and I P yields:
I I irr I dio I P

qV IRS
V IRS
1
I I irr I 0 exp
nkT
RP
Parameters of a single-diode solar cell model i.e. ideality factor,

photocurrent, diode saturation current, cell temperature, series
and parallel resistances have been utilized to formulate IV
characteristic. If there are NM PV modules connected in series and

each module is composed by NC cells in series, thus:
NS NM NC
As shown in Fig. 3, the total PV array current, which includes in

NP PV strings in parallel and NS PV module in series, is given by:
1
2
3
0
q V A I A NNPS RS
V A I A NNPS RS
4
@
A
15
I A N P I irr N P I 0 exp
4
NS
N S nkT
N P RP
The value of ideality factor (n) is assumed to be equal to its
value at standard test condition (STC). If the carriers transport is
purely diffusion, this value is equal to 1. It is equal to 2 if transport
process is mainly recombination and it can be equal to 1.3 for
silicon cell as:
n nref
137
curve fitting
Levenberg/
Marquardt
curve
fitting
Newton/Raphson
solution of the
double
exponential
model equation
computation of
first partial
derivatives
of fitting function
testing
testing
independently
Fig. 4. LevenbergMarquardt curve tting method basic requirements [27].
where NOCT is the nominal operating cell temperature in (1C)

and is available in manufacturer's datasheet. The reverse diode
saturation current (I 0 ) has been given by:
K4
K5
K6
K7
K8
K9
I irr;ref
!
10
RS RS;ref
11
7:3174103
2
0
1:47
RP
G
RP;ref Gref
12
1:612610 3
K 11
2:3034106
K 12
2:812210 2
W
1000 m
2
300 K
where I irr;ref and T ref (25 C) are photocurrent and cell temperature at STC, respectively. 0T is the relative temperature coefcient of short-circuit current given by:
T2
T 1108
1:264104
11:8003
Photocurrent, which depends on the solar radiation and temperature, has been calculated through:

G
I irr I irr;ref
1 0T T T ref
6
Gref
0
T
4
Parallel (RP ) and series (RS ) resistances are two other unknowns
calculated through:
4:4710 3
5:72910 7
0:1098
44:5355
K 10

Eg;ref Eg
exp

kT ref kT
Eg 1:16 7:02 10
Input coefcient/parameters Value
K1
K2
K3
3
where
Table 2
Values of input parameters and coefcients [22].
K0
T
T ref
I 0 I 0;ref
Fig. 3. A PV array conguration [21].
where T is the absolute temperature coefcient of shortcircuit current. The cell temperature as a function of solar irradiation has been obtained through:

NOCT 201C
8
T T Amb
0:8
Five parameters (nref , I irr;ref , I 0;ref , RS;ref , and RP;ref ) have been
recognized by (4) through (12). These unknowns have been
obtained by simultaneously solving a system of ve equations. The
rst equation of system has been derived by evaluating (4) at
open-circuit condition as:

qV OC;ref
V OC;ref
1 N
13
0 N P I irr;ref N P I 0;ref exp
S
N S nref kT ref
N P RP;ref
where I irr;ref , I 0;ref , RP;ref , and V OC;ref are photocurrent, reverse
saturation current, shunt resistance, and open circuit voltage at
STC, respectively. The second equation has been derived by evaluating (4) at short-circuit condition as:

I SC;ref NNS RS;ref
qI SC;ref RS;ref
1 N P
I SC;ref NP I irr;ref NP I 0;ref exp
S
N S nref kT ref
N RP;ref
P
14
The third equation has been formulated at MPP under STC as:
1
2
3
0
q V mp;ref I mp;ref NNPS RS;ref
A 15
I mp;ref N P I irr;ref N P I 0;ref 4exp@
N S nref kT ref
V mp;ref I mp;ref NNPS RS;ref

NS
N P RP;ref
15
138
The derivative of power with respect to voltage is equal to zero

at MPP and hence the fourth equation given by:
1
0
N
I mp;ref
V mp;ref
qN P I 0;ref
exp@
N S nref kT ref
q V mp;ref I mp;ref N S RS;ref

P
N S nref kT ref
0
qI
1 n 0;ref
exp@
ref kT ref
q V mp;ref I mp;ref N S RS;ref

P
N S nref kT ref
AN
1
S
NP RP;ref
16
A RS;ref
RP;ref
Eq. (16) makes sure that the open-circuit temperature coefcient ( T ) has been approximated properly by the model since:

V OC V OC;ref T T T ref
17
and thus V OC at some temperature T can be found through (4)
using the same technique exploited to derive (13), and hence:

qV OC T
V OC T
1 N
18
0 N P I irr N P I 0 exp
S
N S nkT
N P RP
By substituting the values of I irr , I 0 , RP , and n using (5) through
(12) and the term V OC T from (17) the fth Eq. (16) can be written
in terms of reference values only.
The system of ve equations (13) (through 16) including (18)
has been solved using non-linear equation solver which is socalled fsolve in MATLAB. This model accurately estimates IV and
PV curves, maximum power point (MPP) values, short-circuit
current (I SC ), open-circuit voltage (V OC ) at different levels of irradiation, and cell temperature. The ability of this model to calculate
the mentioned parameters has been examined for monocrystalline
and polycrystalline panels. For the power system dynamic modeling, PV arrays in any size can be modeled by this method in any
simulation platform such as Matlab/Simulink and PSCAD/EMTDC.
To demonstrate the accuracy of this model a series of outdoor
experiments have also been conducted for several congurations
of PV array. The consistency between IV and PV curves for
estimated and experimental results conrms the efcacy of this PV
cell-to-module-to-array model.
A polycrystalline PV array model for stand-alone applications
was presented by Chowdhury et al. [22]. To investigate the performance of this system under different loading and weather
conditions, a stand-alone PV system has been simulated in Matlab/
Simulink. This model is based on the calculation of parameters for
the Thevenin's equivalent circuit of each individual cell located in
the PV array. The standard double-diode model of polycrystalline
cell has been used to implement the PV system model in an
embedded environment as:

"
#
"
#
V IRs
V IRs
V IRs
vt
Avt
I I ph I s1 e
1 I s2 e
1
19
Rp
where vt kT
q . I and V are PV cell current and terminal voltage,
respectively. k is Boltzmann's constant, T is absolute temperature,
and q is the electron charge. I ph , I s1 , and I s2 are photocurrent, rst,
and second diodes saturation current, respectively. Rs and Rp are
the series and parallel resistances is double-diode equivalent circuit. A is a diode parameter (i.e. ideality factor) and set to 2 which
reects the Shockley-Read-Hall recombination effect in spacecharge layer of photo-diode. In this paper, (20) through (25)
have been proposed to empirically obtain the PV cell double-diode
W
parameters where the effects of solar irradiation (E in m
2 ) and
ambient temperature (T in 1K) are supposed to be considered as:
I ph K 0 E1 K 1 T
20
K
3
I s1 K 2 T 3 e T
21
I s2 K 4 T
1:5
K
5
e T
22
Fig. 5. Schematic dynamic model of PVM including internal capacitance C x [35].
A K6 K 7T
Rs K 8
23
K9
K 10 T
E
24
Rp K 11 eK 12 T
25
where the values of K 0 through K 12 together with E and T is

cited in Table 2.
The equivalent Thevenin's circuit of whole PV array including
Ns cells in series and Np cells in parallel has been extracted as:

!#
!
"
V th N s Rp I ph I s1 e
V th
vt
"
N p Rp I ph I s1 e
I sc

I sc Rs
vt
V th
Avt
1 I s2 e
!
1 I s2 e
Rp Rs
I sc Rs
Avt
26
!#
27
where V V th and I 0 for Thevenin's voltage (V th ). V 0 and

I I sc for the short-circuit current . In this case, the equivalent
Thevenin's resistance has been given by:
Rth
V th
I sc
28
The simulation results conrm that this model of polycrystalline

PV cell can be effectively exploited to improve the reliability of
mentioned stand-alone PV system. Solar plant can be successfully
deployed in an embedded environment to provide customers with
high quality power and enhance service reliability for critical loads.
Mahmoud et al. [23] proposed a simple mathematical model
for the purpose of simulating a solar PV plant. In comparison with
information available in the solar cell datasheet, this approach
estimates the PV cell model parameters accurately. This method
has been validated through experimental measurements. The idea
behind this model comes from the simplied ideal single-diode
model equations. Shunt and series resistances are supposed to be
innite and zero, respectively. Thus, PV output voltage and current
are related together mathematically as:

qV
I I ph I s e Ns KAT 1
29
The key point in this paper is the strategy to derive Is as:

30
V OC G; T V OC G; T 0 jT
where V OC G; T is open circuit voltage at a certain temperature
(T) and solar radiation level. V OC G; T 0 is open circuit voltage at
STC temperature and certain solar irradiation level. By substituting
V OC G; T and V OC G; T 0 in (30) I s derived through:
jjT q
e Ns KTA GIsc T
Is
T 0
GI sc
I rs 1
j jT q
Ns KTA
e
31
Fig. 6. The implemented model if SABER through EFBs [35].
139
Fig. 7. IV curves of Solarex SX5 PVM obtained through the experiment and
simulations [35].
where I rs is reverse saturation current at STC. Another

unknown in (29) is A (diode ideality factor) and can be calculated
by rewriting (29) at maximum power point (MPP) and standard
test conditions. Substituting I rs derived at STC into I mpp formulation the nal equation to calculate A has been simplied as:

qV mpp
I mpp
I sc I m NsqVKToc A
eNs KT 0 A
32
e 0
I sc
I sc
This method bypasses the complicated computational process
of solving non-linear equations. In this paper, the simulation
results precisely comply with the experimental data. The root
mean square deviation shows 56% and 87% improvement with
respect to [24,25], respectively. Results also indicate that this
method is able to decrease the simulation time (due to its simplied structure) by 33% compared to [24,25].
Gaw and Manning developed a circuit based PV array model
(using double-diode or double-exponential equivalent circuit)
which is suitable for power electronic applications [26,27]. Five
parameters have been considered for double-diode model of PV
cell i.e. photocurrent, diodes saturation current, series and parallel
resistances. Ideality factor A is assumed to be constant value of 2.
The method presented in [22], infact, has been derived from this
approach. In this paper, a data aqusition system has been developed which is able to plot IV curves associated with various kinds
of PV cell across their operating range. These curve would be used
to estimated ve parameters for each extracted IV characteristic.
To derive analytical expressions for the ve parameters with
respect to temprature and irradiance, numerical curve tting
through LevenbergMarquardt method [28] has been suggested
(see Fig. 4). This method of curve tting needs a solution for nonlinear and implicit double-exponential equation. NewtonRaphson method has been exploited to derive IV relationship. LevenbergMarquardt method also needs solutions of the rst partial
derivatives of the function that have to be tted. In the case of
double-exponential equation, it is easy to determine these derivatives. The LevenbergMarquardt is an iterative method and thus
requires intitial values for each parameter being calculated. Once
the IV data are determined by the data acquisition system, the
next step is to extract the double-exponential parameters initial
values for the curve tting method.
Depending on how to calculate the initial value of Rp (shunt
resistance), there have been implemented two iterative loops. The
initial conditions for the rst loop have been satised through:

dV
dV
Rs0
33
V V oc ; Rp0
V 0

dI
dI
I I sc
I0
Fig. 8. (a) Short-circuit condition equivalent circuit. (b) Open-circuit condition

equivalent circuit [36].
I ph0 I sc ; A0 2
I s10
34
I sc
I sc
; I s20
qV oc
qV oc
1
kT
2kT
2e
2e
1
35
and the rst iterative loop equations have been derived as:

3

dV
1
5
Rs0 4 V V oc
dI
X 1v X 2v R1p
I0
36
I s1 qV oc
I s2 qV oc
e kT ; X 2v
e AkT
vt
Avt
37
X 1v
6
6
6
Rp0 6
6 1
6
4dV
dI V 0
7
7
7
1
7
X 1i X 2i 7
7
5
Rs0
38

I s1 qIsc Rs0
I s2 qIsc Rs0
e kT ; X 2i
e AkT
vt
Avt
39
I I sc
X 1i
140
If the rst loop is diverged, the second loop will run by the
algorithm. The equations of second loop given by:
2
3
6
Rp0 6
4
7
V mpp I mpp Rs0

7

5
qV mpp I mpp Rs0
qV mpp I mpp Rs0
kT
AkT
1 I s2 e
1
I mpp I ph I s1 e
40
I s10
oc
I ph VRp0
qV oc
kT
1
I s20
" qI
I ph0 I sc I s1 e
sc Rs0
kT
oc
I ph VRp0
41
qV oc
e AkT 1
" qI
e
1 I s2 e
sc Rs0
AkT
1
I sc Rs0
Rp0
42
Start
Set initial parameters
Input the data of a specific photovoltaic module
Calculate the parameters per solar cell
Input the levels of irradiance and temprature
Calculate the photo current Iph
Set initial value of A
Compute the value of dI/dV at the point (Vmpp, Impp)
Error = |dI/ dV + Impp/ Vmpp|
Adjust the
value of A
no
Error is minimized?
Output the determined values of A and Rs
End
Fig. 9. The coding program owchart to determine the nal values of A and Rs [36].
Along with the numerical solution of double-diode equation,

which is running for each parameter at a given temperature and
irradiance, LevenbergMarquardt also ts the curve between the
points obtained by the numerical solver associated with (20)
through (25). This model can be properly matched with the suggested converter and its controllers. This model also accurately
presents the behavior of PV cell in terms of environmental variables. Any simulation platform (PSpice or SIBER in here) can be
utilized to implement this model. This model receives the temperature and irradiance as inputs and the PV module IV curve is
the output.
In another works [29,30], PV cell model has been implemented
in PSpice and PSIM, respectively. In [30], a PV model (using singlediode) has been developed which is applicable for the circuit
oriented simulation in PSIM software. The model has been veried
through the simulation and experiment, at different solar irradiation levels. The logarithmic term in IV characteristic equation
has been simplied through the Taylor Expansion and the second
and higher order terms have been ignored in this method. The
ambient temperature prole can also be included in this model.
This approach has been exploited in the dynamic modeling of a
solar PV plant composed by a DCDC converter controlled by
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) system. The closely matched experimental and simulation results conrm the accuracy of
this model.
Chouder et al. [31] simulated a 3.2 kWp grid-connected PV
system interfaced to power grid through a single phase inverter.
The parameters of PV cell/module have been estimated using
single-diode equivalent circuit. The parameters of PV cell have
been obtained through the similar approaches presented in [32
34]. The evaluated IV characteristic has been compared to the
experimental one obtained through the outdoor measurements.
To measure the efciency of system, output AC power has been
graphed versus DC input power using second order efciency
model. This system has been simulated by Matlab/Simulink. The
results indicate that this model can properly estimate PV system
energy production.
Another method presented by Gil-Aria and Ortiz-Rivera [35]
through which the model of solar PV cell has been obtained under
variable environmental conditions. This tool simulates the behavior of PV systems taking into account the impacts of solar irradiance, ambient temperature, and wind speed. This new approach
gives the user the ability to model the PV system using any
simulation platform. The thermal capacitance characteristic of a
solar cell is also considered in this method for transient and longterm applications. To implement this approach in simulation
software, a circuit based model according to thermal and electrical
equations has been designed. In electrical PV Module (PVM)
model, six parameters (available in manufacturer's datasheet), the
Fig. 10. Photovoltaic module model implemented in Matlab/Simulink [36].
141
Fig. 11. Different models of solar module in Np parallel and NS series branches [38].
Fig. 12. Block diagram of the PV model implemented in Matlab/Simulink [39].
number of modules in series and parallel (s and p respectively),

and the characteristic constant (b) have been considered to derive
the governing equations. b has been calculated through an algorithm based
on Fixed
Point Theorem as:
while bn 1 bn 4
bn 1
V op V oc
h

i
I
V oc :ln 1 Iop
1 exp b1n
sc
43
where is maximum error and it has been chosen to be 10 7

in here. As shown in Fig. 5, PVM consists of an internal capacitance
and thus current and voltage of PVM given by:

Ix
V
1
1 1 exp
44

I V
bV x b
1 exp b
where
Ix p
Ei
I sc TC i T T N
EiN
45
Vx s

V max V op
Ei
Ei
TCV T T N sV max sV max V min exp
ln
EiN
EiN
V max V min
46
I sc and V oc are short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage,
W
respectively, at 1000 m
2 and 25 C. V max is the open-circuit voltage
W
at 25 C and irradiation above 1200 m
2 and V min is the open-circuit
W
voltage at 25 C and irradiation bellow 1200 m
2 . V op is the optimal
voltage. T is PV panel temperature in C. Ei is the effective solar
W
irradiance in m
2 . T N is 25 C. E iN is the nominal effective solar
W
is short-circuit temperature
irradiation which is 1000 m
2 . TC i
A
. TCV is the open-circuit temperature coefcient in
coefcient in 1C
V
1C . Dynamic equation of PVM considering the internal capacitance
has been given by:

i3
2h
V
1
V
1
I x 4 1 exp bV x b 5 I i

I V I i
t C x
Cx
Cx
1 exp 1b
47
142
Fig. 14. DC circuit to obtain diode ideality factor [41].
solar cell, the shunt resistance has been neglected in this method.
The equivalent circuit of short-circuit and open-circuit conditions
are shown in Fig. 8.
Since the value of diode current is negligible, the photocurrent
is directly proportional to solar irradiation. Taking into account the
impacts of temperature and irradiance on photocurrent, it can be
estimated as:
Fig. 13. IV Characteristic of photovoltaic array [40].
I ph Ga ; T I scs
In this paper, the impacts of solar radiation, wind speed, and

ambient temperature on the steady-state temperature (T ss ) of a
PVM has also been included in the PVM model as:
T b Ei ea cW s T a
T ss T b
Ei
T
EiN
48
49
where T b is the temperature of PVM back surface in 1C. T a is the

ambient temperature in 1C. W s is the wind speed in ms. c is the
empirical coefcient and determines the rate at which the module
temperature declines as the wind speed rises. a is also the
empirical coefcient that determines the upper limit for PV
module temperature where the wind speed is low and the irradiation level is high. T is the temperature difference between the
W
cell and module back surface at 1000m
2 . It has been suggested to
approximate the thermal model of PVM through a rst order
system that represents a thermal time constant of 1k given by:
dT
kT T ss
dt
50
where T is the instantaneous temperature of the PV cells in 1C.

This temperature is considered as the input for the PVM electrical
model. To obtain , the PVM is heated up with a unied heat
source. A data logger records the temperature for every specic
time interval and after data collection a linear regression would be
applied to determine the value of k and .
The authors used SABER, Matlab/Simulink and PSpice simulation platforms in order to evaluate their work (see Fig. 6).
The proposed model is very useful for the power system
dynamic modeling. The results obtained through the simulation
have been well-matched together and with the experimental
measurements for three types of solar PVM i.e. Solarex SA5,
Solarex SX5, and Solarex SX10 (see Fig. 7).
Weidong et al. [36] proposed a modeling algorithm in order to
obtain the PV cell output in terms of environmental variables i.e.
temperature and irradiance. This model is suitable to be implemented through computerized simulation. Simplied single-diode
model of PV cell has been exploited to drive this model. This
approach needs four parameters which can be derived from the PV
module datasheet information at three points i.e. short-circuit
current, open-circuit voltage, and the voltage and current at MPP.
Temperature coefcients of current and voltage are also required
in this method. To simplify the single-diode equivalent circuit of
Ga
1 I sc T T s
Gas
51
where Ga and T symbolize the irradiation and temperature,

respectively. I scs is the short-circuit current and Gas is irradiation at
STC, respectively. I sc is the short-circuit current temperature
coefcient and T s is the standard temperature (298 K). Opencircuit voltage can be calculated through:
V oc T V ocs V oc T T s
52
where V ocs is open-circuit voltage in STC and V oc is opencircuit voltage temperature coefcient. As illustrated in Fig. 8, the
value of photocurrent is equal to the current trough the diode as:
I ph Ga ; T I D Ga ; T
53
Diode current can be calculated using Shockley equation given

by:
V oc

I D Ga ; T I sat Ga ; T e V t 1
54
where V t AkT
q is the thermal voltage, A is the diode ideality
factor, and I sat is diode saturation current which is a function of
irradiation and temperature and formulated as:
I ph Ga ; T

I sat Ga ; T
e
V oc T
V t T
55
1
Also, current at MPP can be obtained by:

2 V IR
3
mpp
V
17
5I ph
t
6e
I mpp I ph 4
V oc
Vt
56
1
and thus series resistance is given by:

"
#

V oc
I mpp
I mpp
Vt
Iph V mpp
V t ln 1 Iph e
Rs
57
I mpp
To determine the ideality factor, derivative of power in terms of

voltage has been derived at MPP which should be equal to zero
yielding:
dI

dV V V mpp
V mpp IRs
Vt
I sat
Vt e
V mpp IRs
Vt
58
1 IsatV tRs e
the best values for A and Rs can be

By comparing (58) with Vmpp
mpp
found using the coded algorithm shown in Fig. 9. This approach
has been simulated through embedded functional blocks in
143
Fig. 15. Model developed in Matlab/Simulink to evaluate the PV module behavior under operating conditions [42].
Fig. 16. One Diode IV characteristic (solid curve) eatimated by two (dotted lines)
and four (dashed lines) linear segments over the interval E 0 ; V OC [43].
Fig. 18. Four segment piece wise linear (PWL) circuit and IV curve [44].
Fig. 17. Circuit conguration of the PLPB model [43].
Matlab/Simulink (see Fig. 10). Photovoltaic current has been considered as a function of voltage. Voltagecurrent characteristic has
been taken into account as a function of both insulation and
temperature. A lookup table has been prepared to relate the
temperature to the ideality factor and series resistance. This model
has been veried for three types of solar cell with different
materials i.e. multicrystalline silicon, mono-crystalline silicon, and
CIS thin lm. The efcacy of this model has been proved by making
comparison between the simulation results and the manufacturer's datasheet information.
Huan-Liang et al. [37,38] presented an equation oriented
method which enables the users to consider the direct impact of
changes in the solar irradiance and the cell temperature on the
efciency of PV modules. This method has been implemented in
Matlab/Simulink through function blocks. Single-diode model of
PV cell has been utilized to extract the IV characteristic curve. The
effect of parallel and/or series interconnection between the PV

module has also been taken into account in this approach. This
model gives a very good understanding about the PV cell/Module
operation and it is quite suitable for power system PV dynamic
modeling purpose. This PV module model gives an operating point
very close to the MPPT operation and hence in terms of the
accuracy it is quite satisfactory. The simplied relationship (Rs and
Rsh are ignored) between current and voltage in any arrangement
(parallel and/or series) is formulated as:

qV
1
59
I NP I PH NP I S exp
N S kTA
where N P and N S are the number of cell strings in parallel in an
array and the number of cells in series in a string, respectively. The
approach to make the equivalent circuits and to extract the simplied model is shown in Fig. 11.
In another similar work done by Yun-feng and Ying [39] a
dynamic model for photovoltaic distributed generation (PVDG)
system has been introduced. A control scheme for MPPT has been
presented as well. PVDG model together with its MPPT controller
have been implemented in Matlab/Simulink. The simplied singlediode (ignoring shunt resistance) with four unknown parameters
(i.e. light current, saturation current, series resistance, and thermal
voltage timing completion factor) have been considered to obtain
the IV characteristic. All four parameters can affect operation
of the PV system in terms of load current and/or solar irradiation.
Light and saturation currents have been calculated easily using
datasheet values and the conventional formulation. Thermal
voltage timing completion factor has been computed using (60)
144
Fig. 20. Addition of ideal DC voltage source to consider the open-circuit voltage
variation [44].
Fig. 19. Determination of PWL vertex [44].
in series.
through (62) as:
ref
VC
2U MPP;ref U oc;ref

I sc;ref
I MPP;ref
I sc;ref I MPP;ref ln 1 I sc;ref
60
where
U MPP;ref maximum power point voltage at the reference
condition (V);
I MPP;ref maximum power point current at the reference
condition (A);
I sc;ref short-circuit current at reference condition (A).
is a function of temperature given by:
T 273
T ref 273 ref
61
Series resistance has been estimated to be:

Rs
U oc;ref U MPP;ref
ref ln 1 IMPP;ref
I sc;ref
I MPP;ref
62
where U oc;ref is the open-circuit voltage of PV module at

reference condition in volt(s). This value is normally available in
manufacturers' datasheet. The impact of temperature on the
amount of output power generated by PVDG system is very
important. To consider the effect of temperature, the thermal
model of a PV cell has also been derived in this paper. The thermal
model together with single-diode model of PV cell has been
implemented in Matlab/Simulink (see Fig. 12). The role of thermal
model of PV is to obtain cell temperature in terms of the solar
irradiance and ambient temperature. In this case, the IV characteristic can vary along with changes in cell temperature more
accurately than without thermal model. To implement MPPT
algorithm between the different techniques, this paper has proposed using model based computational MPPT techniques i.e.
CMPPT and VMPPT. CMPPT stands for current-based computational
MPPT methods and VMPPT reects voltage-based computational
MPPT. CMPPT has been exploited in this article since it has shown
stronger linear behavior when I mpp has been graphed versus I sc .
This method is easy to implement in any graphical user interface
(GUI) platform e.g. PSCAD/EMTDC and hence it is useable for
power system dynamic studies.
Similarly, in [40], a PV array model has been developed in
Matlab/Simulink using basic equations which only includes in the
series resistance. The voltage of a single solar cell has been
obtained using (63) and then multiplied by the number of cells

I ph I 0 I C
AkT C
ln
RS I C
e
I0
63
where
I C : PV cell output current (A);
I ph : Photocurrent, function of irradiation level and junction
temperature (5 A);
I 0 : Reverse saturation current of diode (0.0002 A);
RS : PV cell series resistance (0.001 );
T C : Reference PV cell operating temperature (20 C);
V C : PV cell output voltage (V).
The impacts of solar irradiation and temperature variations on
the cell's output voltage and photocurrent has been included in
this model by four coefcients (correction factors). In this case, C TV
and C TI for the temperature effect and C SV and C SI for the irradiation effect on the voltage and photo-current has been formulated as:
C TV 1 T T a T x
64
65
C TI 1
SC
T x T a
C SV 1 T S Sx SC
C SI 1
1
S x S C
SC
66
67
where
T 0:004, T 0:06, and Ta 20 C is ambient temperature
during the test conditions. Eqs. (64) and (65) can be used to calculate the modied model of PV cell for another temperature (T x ).
If the temperature does not change over a typical day, the irradiation level, in turn, affects the output voltage and photocurrent.
Eqs. (66) and (67) give the new operating point for the solar cell in
terms of the variation in solar irradiance. The updated values of
output voltage and photocurrent have been obtained as:
V CX C TV C SV V C
68
I phx C TI C SI I ph
69
where V C and I ph are the benchmark reference cell output

voltage and reference cell photocurrent, respectively. This method
is less accurate than the model presented by [25,26] since the
MPPT around the IV curve around the knee point is almost at
resulting a deviation from the exact MPPT value (see Fig. 13).
However, the model is reasonably accurate when it is supposed to
be used either in grid-connected mode or in autonomous mode
where the consumer is the ac and/or dc lumped loads.
145
Rahman et al. [41] proposed a generalized mathematical model

of a PV panel that only has exploited the datasheet quantities. In
this method, there is no need to utilize explicit iterative algorithms
in order to estimate PV panel parameters. A non-iterative
approach has been introduced to calculate both Rs and Rsh
through standard datasheet values at STC. By using this information, diode identity factor has been calculated as well.
Rs has been considered to be the slope of IV curve at V oc . The
shunt resistance of each cell has been embedded in the equivalent
model of the PV module and the cells have been assumed to be
identical. Shunt resistance has been approximated at MPP at which
the derivative of power with respect to voltage is zero. Series and/
or parallel PV cell single-diode model circuit have been combined
and presented as a single controlled current source as shown in
Fig. 14. In this equivalent circuit, the controlled current source
block embeds a group of equations. The output current of PV
module/array is controlled according to inputs i.e. temperature,
irradiation, and terminal voltage. In this method, to obtain diode
ideality factor, an ideal DC voltage source is connected to the PV
equivalent circuit terminal. At MPP voltage V m and at STC the value
of ideality factor is increased gradually. At the same time, the
output current is measured to ensure if I I m . Once the I m corresponding to V m is equal to datasheet value, the selected ideality
factor at the moment is recorded as the actual value of diode
ideality factor.
This model can be simulated on any software platform such as
PSCAD/EMTDC and Matlab/Simulink. The electrical parameters of
PV panel calculated trough this method have been validated for six
different commercially available PV panels. The estimated output
of this model is reasonably matched with experimental results.
This model can be used to evaluate any PV panel performance at
different operating conditions.
In another work presented in [42], LevenbergMaquardt algorithm (LMA) has been utilized to obtain parameters of ve solar PV
cell electrical model. For each model different methods (i.e.
deterministic, heuristic, and LMA) have been used to estimate the
parameters and to compare the degree of accuracy as well as
speed of calculation between those methods. As shown in Fig. 15,
this approach has been simulated in Matlab/Simulink environment. The implicit equation associated with solar PV cell model
has been solved by the Matlab function i.e. fzero.
Five-parameter model has been used to make comparison
between deterministic and heuristics methods. The results indicate that the accuracy of estimated parameters through LMA is
comparable with the deterministic one but higher than those
calculated using heuristics methods.
2.1.2. Piecewise linear circuit (PLC)
In mathematics, to approximate a non-linear curve, it is possible to break it down into several linear segments. PLC follows
this rule and hence it can approximate non-linear characteristic of
the PV cell. Non-linear elements of a circuitry are assumed to be
replaced by linear components where PLC is utilized.
Wang et al. [43] have presented a new piecewise linear parallel
branches (PLPB) model which approximates the non-linear IV
curve of the solar cell or module through an equivalent circuit.
This circuit includes in parallel branches composed by linear elements. These elements are changeable in order to achieve higher
degree of accuracy. To determine value of the elements, an algorithm based on an equal area criterion has been proposed which
needs no human intervention. This algorithm enables the users to
adjust the parameters of PLPB model according to real-time values
of solar temperature and irradiation. The PLPB model has been
developed based on single-diode PV cell equivalent circuit. Basically, PLPB model enables the users to estimate the IV curve of the
diode by 2th linear segments (see Fig. 16).
Fig. 21. GNG training algorithm [54].
In this case, IV curve is approximated by four segments. Each

segment has two edges where the left edge is E0 and is normally
supposed to be zero and the right edge is V OC . Firstly, the linear
approximation of IV curve is done by two segments which are
bounded into three points i.e. E0 , E2 , and V OC . Secondly, the left
side of E2 is similarly segmented by two line-pieces generating
another corner voltage E1 . The remained portion of the IV curve
at the right side of E2 is also approximated creating another two
lines with an edge of E3 . This process keeps on until the estimated
curve in each coming stage becomes more accurate than the
precedent stage. After sectionalizing the IV curve in h parts, each
segment is equalized with a circuit branch as show in Fig. 17.
146
As long as V d o 0, the D1 , D2 , and Dh are reverse biased. As the

voltage increases, the diode start conducting and the process
reaches to the last (Dh ) diode which conducts if Eh 1 o V d o V OC
(where k 2h and h is the number of segments being approximated). The relationship between I and Vfor four-segment model
discussed in above has been formulated as:

V
V E 1 V d E2 V d E 3
1
1
1
1

Vd
Id d d
R1 R2 R3 R4
R1
R2
R2
R4

E1 E 2 E 3
E1 E2 E3
m4 V d
; E 3 r V d r E4

70
R2 R3 R4
R2 R3 R4
where
I d : Input current into the PV single-diode model (A);
R1 through R4 : Approximated resistances in each segment ();
m4 : 4th segment slope.
This model has been simulated by electromagnetic transient
program (EMTP) and Matlab/Simulink. In comparison with the real
PV and IV curves extracted from the datasheet, the results
obtained through this method are reasonably accurate.
Campell [44] introduced a exible and reliable piecewise linear
(PWL) PV module dynamic model for power electronic applications. This model has been implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC software and the standard library components of this software have
been utilized to simulate this PV system. A single-diode model of
PV array has been exploited and to achieve an accurate PV nonlinear IV curve, three series connected diodes have been utilized
together with two by pass resistors in parallel with one pair of
mentioned diodes (see Fig. 18). The PV operating point is determined by its load characteristic and thus to t the IV curve, the
load resistance has been varied from zero to innity. The more the
bypass resistors, the more piecewise linear sections can be created
and thus the non-linear IV curve becomes more accurate.
The operation of proposed circuitry in Fig. 18 depends on the
load resistance. If the load resistance is trivial, all of the diodes
would be turned-off. In this case, there is a path for the voltage to
increase across the bottom diode and hence this forms the rst
segment of IV curve in constant-current region. Along with the
increase in the load resistance, the voltage across the bottom diode
also increases and this diode is turned-on accordingly. This matter
leads to increase in current drawn from the PV source and thus the
PV system operating region is pushed towards the second segment. If the middle resistor is bigger than the top one, the middle
diode is turned-on earlier than the top diode and hence the third
section of proposed IV characteristic is attained. Eventually, the
top diode is also turned-on and the PV source operates in
constant-voltage region (in segment 4) of PWL curve.
To calculate the PWL model parameters, several methods have
been suggested in this paper. In the rst approach, the values of
diode turn-on voltage and bypass resistor can be chosen by trialand-error in order to match the IV characteristic obtained
through PWL technique with the reference curve available in the
datasheet. Based on the information provided by manufacturers, it
is also possible to t the curve through minimum descriptor
length (MDL) which is a curve-tting method [44,45]. If the data
from manufacturer is not accurate pre-tting can be applied
through PV-specic method [44,46]. Sandia National Laboratories
model [44,47] and database can be used as well in order to produce the vertices of PWL curves through the ve key points (i.e.
short-circuit, open-circuit, and MPP) on IV curve (see Fig. 19).
Ignoring the method which is utilized to t the IV curve, to
nd PWL parameters, the next step is to obtain Rsh and Rs which
has been considered as the slopes of rst and fourth segments,
respectively, as:
Rsh R1
Rs R4
71

V oc 0:5 V oc V mp
I xx I oc
72
Then, the values of Rsh and Rs are used to nd the values of

middle and top bypass resistors. Rtop and Rmid have been obtained
solving simultaneous equations given by:

6
106 R
Rsh 0:001 106 Rmid 6 top
R2 Rs
Fig. 22. Expanded V f I block [54].
0:5V oc V sc
I sc I x
10 Rmid
10 Rtop
6
106 R
Rsh 106 Rmid 6 top
10 Rmid
10 Rtop
Fig. 24. Two-diode model [57].
Fig. 23. Steps in order to tune GNG-based simulator [54].
73

3
106 R
Rsh 0:001 10 3 Rmid 6 top
R3 Rs
10
Rmid
3
Rsh 10 3 Rmid

10
Rmid
10 Rtop
74
106 Rtop
106 Rtop
where R2 and R3 (which are the second and third segments

slopes, respectively) are given by:
R2
V mp 0:5V oc
I x I mp
75
R3

0:5 V oc V mp V mp
I mp I xx
76
At last, the forward voltage drops of diodes can be calculated

through:
V bot
0:5V oc V sc I x Rs
1
77
Rtop Rmid
106

1
V mid V mp 0:5V oc Rs I mp I x
V top V oc V bot V mid
Rtop 10 3
Rtop Rmid 10 3
!
78
79
In order to integrate the effects of variations in temperature

and solar irradiation into this model, the proposed circuit in Fig. 18
has been modied as shown in Fig. 20. In this case, an inverted
ideal DC voltage source has been added in series with parallel
branch consisting of diode and bypass resistors. The value of this
DC voltage source has been considered as the offset which
represents the voltage dependence at the new value of temperature or photocurrent.
The difference between the original open-circuit voltage (V oc;old )
and new open-circuit voltage (V oc;new ) in new operating conditions
determines the magnitude of added DC voltage source (V oc;adj ) as:
V oc;adj V oc;old V oc;new
80
where
0
qV oc

V oc;new Rsh I sc I 0 e kT 1
147
approach. Derived non-linear equations can be solved using

iterative solvers (and/or optimization algorithms) and the parameters are obtained in their optimal values using these techniques. It is also possible to incorporate equation based methods
with EFB method which may increase the accuracy and sometimes
computational burden.
Bishop [48] have obtained the PV cell IV characteristic by
changing the diode voltage over a proper range. If this method is
used, there is no need to solve non-linear implicit equations.
Partial shading effect on IV curve has been considered as well.
This author developed a software tool dedicated to PV system
simulation which is so-called PVSim [49]. Abete et al. [50] proposed general rules to analyze the shading effects on PV modules
mismatch inspiring the Bishop's method. This method can be
exploited to monitor electrical status of whole modules strings,
single module, solar cell and diodes inside of a solar PV array. In
[51,52], NewtonRaphson method has been utilized to solve nonlinear PV cell equations and to study the partial shading effects on
PV module operation. In [53], a junction analysis was conducted to
decline the shadow and aging effects on operational performance
of a solar cell. Three connection patterns have been considered i.e.
series-parallel, bridge-lined, and total-cross-tied.
Di Piazza et al. [54] have presented a real-time simulator for the
solar PV plant where the IV characteristic is estimated either
through a fully analytical model or a numerical method based on a
growing neural gas (GNG) network. A thermal constant for the PV
eld and a better data learning process through the GNG has been
introduced as well. The GNG-based model of the PV source can be
implemented on a cheaper microprocessor than the case which
the analytical model is exploited in. It is also possible to extend the
use of GNG-based modeling to other kinds of sources e.g. batteries
and fuel cells. To obtain the power stage for the system, a DCDC
buck converter has been utilized which is controlled according to
the relationship between current, voltage, irradiance, and temperature. Some improvements have been made in this work
compared to previous ones as:
81
Mathematical model is given as a continuous surface in the
The model proposed in this paper is robust, simple, and exible. It is very useful for the purpose of power system dynamic
studies since it can be implemented in any software platform
which contains library of electrical circuitry components.
A relation between temperature and irradiance is derived by a
2.2. Equation based methods
irradiance (G) domain;
least square regression (LSR) method;
Thermal constant of the PV eld has been introduced through a

rst-order transfer function;
Experimental prototype of higher rating has been designed and

constructed;
To control the converter, a sophisticated model of controller in
Equation-oriented methods are exploited to model the nonlinear PV cell characteristics analytically and/or numerically. The
implicit non-linear equations that govern the mathematical model
of PV cell are discussed and examined in this kind of modeling
state-space has been proposed.

Data has been collected every of 10 min (sampling time) from
5.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m during a period of ve months. The eld data
Fig. 25. (a) Initialization of DE. (b) Mutation process of DE [58].
148
Fig. 26. PV array model in simulation software using controlled current source, equivalent shunt and series resistors, and the equation of the model current I s [59].
Fig. 27. IV curves for different (a) Irradiance levels. (b) Temperature levels [58].
and hence a set of more than 12,000 pairs of experimental values

of voltage and current (related to MPPs) have been recorded
accordingly. To apply both techniques (analytical and numerical),
7150 couples of current and voltage values have been used (which
corresponded to solar irradiance and temperature ranging from
100 W/m2 to 1100 W/m2 and from 293 K to 323 K, respectively).
In analytical approach, the single-diode model for both PV cell
and eld has been utilized as the base case in order to run the
simulation. In this model, analogous circuitry of solar PV plant has
been congured by four parameters. The number of independent
variables has been reduced by estimating linear relationships (LSR
is adopted) between V mp and I mp as well as T and G, respectively,
as:
I mp 0:470 0:0071G
82
V mp 172:440 0:0115G
83
T 299:377 0:023G
84
In numerical approach, the measured experimental data has

been exploited to tune the GNG-based real-time simulator. Fig. 21
illustrates the algorithm exploited to tune the simulator. Training
of GNG network is an ofine process. In this stage, once the
maximum number of neurons is determined by the operator, the
training algorithm creates their topological disposition.
Then, PV hyper surface in the currentvoltageirradiance
temperature working space can be regenerated. The complete
algorithm of GNG-based method is illustrated in Fig. 22.
To control the power stage (see Fig. 23), the converter has been
driven through the IV relationships deduced by analytical and
neural models. Output voltage has been regulated based on the IV
behavior through the real-time sampling of the output current. In
this case, the reference voltage can be determined by the approach
Fig. 28. Top-level ow-chart of the two-step procedure to extract the PV module
parameters [61].
which the value of the duty cycle has been obtained through. Since
both the steady-state and dynamic behaviors (in the two aforementioned methods) are not obvious, it is possible to claim that
the use of the GNG is more appropriate if:
there is no precise advance knowledge about the PV model

parameters;
the number of experimental plant data is limited.
2.2.1. Analytical techniques

In these methods, the solar cell implicit non-linear equations
are analyzed considering the physical properties of PV cell. To
achieve more accurate PV cell/module/array model than single-
149
diode model, PV cell equivalent circuit can be extended to 2-diode

or 3-diode models. This kind of modeling is mostly based on
optimization or iterative algorithms that can be helpful to nd PV
equation parameters optimally. In this case, the solar cell IV
characteristic can be matched precisely with those available in
manufacturers' datasheet. On the other hand, computational burden may increase since the evolutionary or numerical iterative
methods, sometimes, are not fast converged and need considerable memory to implement the source codes. Exploiting experimental measurements together with numerical methods combined with optimization algorithms make it possible to estimate
more accurate model than individual utilization of each method. It
is not a straightforward task to consider a boundary between
analytical approaches and the numerical methods. In most cases,
the non-linear equation parameters can be found numerically and
hence used as the inputs for optimization techniques. In numerical
techniques, optimization algorithms are not exploited and
extraction of unknown is mostly based on iterative methods.
Chan et al. [55] have compared three methods in order to
extract parameters of single- diode lumped circuit model of PV
cell. Approaches which have been introduced in this paper are
analytical 5-points method, curve tting method, and iterative
5-point method. The parameters of lumped circuit have been
derived for two silicon cells using these techniques. The curves
which have been obtained experimentally under different irradiation and temperature levels have also been utilized along with
these methods. The results indicate that the analytical 5-point
method is more advantageous than the others since it is more
accurate and easy to implement. 5-point method is reliable but the
curve tting method is erroneous.
Ishaque et al. [56,57] presented a PV cell model using two
diodes. Both papers have been following a similar method to
model PV cell. Partial shading effect has been added to the second
one as well. This model has been validated through the programming and simulation in Matlab/Simulink. Since the computational processes normally prolong to be run, this model has been
reduced to four input parameters. Shunt and series resistances
have been approximated using any iterative method. This model is
useful to be utilized together with any MPPT algorithm where
there is a power electronic interface system. This method responds
more accurately when the irradiance is low and hence results are
more reliable during the partial shading. Fig. 24 illustrates the
equivalent circuit of this model. In single-diode model, the generated loss during the recombination of carriers cannot be accurately considered in the process of modeling. Hence, adding a
diode in parallel gives more precise model but increases the
number of parameters from ve to seven. The mathematical
relationships between the PV cell terminal voltage and diodes
currents have been formulated as:

V IRs
I I Ph I D1 I D2
85
RP
where

V IRs
1 ;
I D1 I 01 exp
a1 V T1

V IRs
I D2 I 02 exp
1
a2 V T2
86
In [57], PV cell terminal voltage has been equated in terms of its

output current. The current through the PV cell is assumed to be as
the input of partial shading model. To simplify and reduce computational burden, the saturation currents of both diodes are
supposed to be the same. The ideality factor for the rst and
second diodes have been assumed to be unity and changeable
a2 Z 1:2, respectively. The saturation currents for both diodes
150
Fig. 29. (a,b) Schematic representation of the PV panel partitioned into two 20-cell sub-panels. (c) Representation of PV cell equivalent circuit in darkness [62].
Fig. 30. Power vs. temperature vs. 1 kW/m2 irradiance [63].
have been equated as:

I sc;STC K i T
I 01 I 02
h
i
K T
V
1
exp oc; STCV T v
Fig. 31. Power vs. Temperature vs. 0.75 kW/m2 irradiance [63].
87
To compute RP and Rs , the calculated peak power has been

matched to the experimental peak power (which is normally
mentioned in manufacturers' datasheet). Along with increasing the
value of Rs , the value of RP has been calculated in any iteration. In
these two papers, a procedure to run the matching algorithm has
also been discussed in detail. The partial shading effect has been
investigated as well (for different types of PV array). In this case, IV
and PV curves for any size of PV array during the partial shading
have been estimated. The proposed method in these two papers has
been validated through both two-diode and RP models. In irradiance oriented validation process, the results show that these two
models are accurate in comparison with the parameters value at
STC condition. In low irradiation, the two-diode model is more
accurate than RP model especially about the point of open-circuit
voltage. In temperature oriented validation process, for two typical
PV modules (i.e. KC200GT and MSX-60) double-diode model gives
more accurate results than RP model (at higher temperatures).
Fig. 32. ANN PV cell/module model [63].
To evaluate performance of PV plant models, a solar PV generator has been interfaced to DCDC boost converter at DC side
and the average model of inverter at AC side. For the purpose of
MPPT, Perturb & Observe (P & O) algorithm has been exploited as
well. The results conrm that the PV model is precise. Accuracy of
partial shading model has been evaluated which agrees with
theoretical prediction.
In another paper, Ishaque et al. [58] have exploited differential
evolution (DE) technique in order to model the PV module. This
method provides the users with the ability to calculate model
parameters using the real information in manufacturers datasheet. DE technique enables users to simultaneously compute all
the parameters at different level of temperature and solar irradiance. There are ve parameters for a solar PV cell i.e. I PV , I 0 , a, RS ,
and RP . First two parameters have been calculated analytically and
others computed using DE method. PV single-diode model has
been used to decline the run time. DE implementation procedure
has been divided into four steps i.e. initialization, mutation,
crossover, and evaluation by selection (see Fig. 25). Firstly, a
population including N P elements with D dimension should be
created as:

X i;G X 1;i;G ; X 2;i;G ; ; X j;i;G ; ; X D;i;G
88
where X j;i;G represents a real-valued parameter vector which
creates a candidate solution for the optimization algorithm.
The initial values are generated randomly provided that they
are located in a boundary limited to X L at lower level and X H at
upper level of searching area. Secondly, for a given vector X i;G the
algorithm randomly selects three distinct vectors in the range of
1; N P ]. To generate a donor vector V i ; G a mutation scaling factor
(F) is also added from the range 0; 1 as:

V i;G X r1;G F X r2;G X r3;G
89
where X r1;G , X r2;G , and X r3;G are randomly selected vectors.
Thirdly, to achieve crossover, binomial strategy (in DE algorithm
there are two types of crossover methods i.e. exponential and
binominal) has been exploited as:
(

V j;i;G ; if rand r CR or j jrand
U j;i;G
90
o:w:
X j;i;G ;
where CR is known i.e. crossover rate (another DE parameter).
jrand is randomly chosen index from 1; 2; ; D. U j;i;G is the trial
vector which can be yield by combination of V j;i;G and X j;i;G which
are donor and target vectors, respectively.
In DE algorithm the non-physical values of determined parameters is the major problem. To resolve this drawback, a penalty
function has been dened [59] in (91) which guarantees all the
parameters are within the range.
(
U i;G 1 rand 0; 1X iH X iL if U i;G 1 4 X iH
U j;i;G
91
U i;G 1 rand 0; 1X iH X iL if U i;G 1 o X iL
Fourthly, the population may achieve better values or may keep
unchanged in terms of the tness status. The objective function ( J)
determines that the new vector (in the new generation (G G 1))
should be kept at its previous value or updated to a new trial
vector (U i;G ) as:
(
U i;G if JU i;G o JX i;G
92
X i;G 1
X i;G otherwise

dI
I mp

J

dV V mp ;Imp V mp
93
As shown in Fig. 26, this approach can be implemented in any

computational software e.g. Matlab/Simulink, PSpice, PSim, and
PSCAD through embedded functional blocks (EFBs). It is also
Fig. 33. Numerical model of PV module implemented in Matlab/Simulink [64].
151
possible to obtain the value of PV array current using numerical

solution of double-diode IV equation through NewtonRaphson
method which can be coded in EFB. In this method, the proposed
objective function searches for the optimal values of a, RS , and RP
and nally DE updates the PV module parameters by minimizing
(92) and (93). The model has been validated experimentally. The
real data collected from three different PV modules have been
compared to this method and the results are satisfactory. Fig. 27
shows the results associated with one type (SM55 monocrystalline) in term of variation in irradiance and temperature levels for
both experimental and proposed model.
Saloux et al. [60] introduced a simple approach to size and
model PV arrays. Impacts of environmental variables i.e. solar
irradiation and panel temperature have also been considered in
this method. This analytical model enables users to calculate the
voltage and current as a function of environmental variables at
MPP using single-diode equivalent circuit. Three equivalent PV cell
circuits (i.e. ideal PV, single-diode, and double-diode models) have
been introduced together with their equations. This method considers two asymptotes that divide IV curve in two regions. First
area is near the V OC point where the PV cell behavior is similar to a
voltage source and another one is the region about I SC at which the
PV can be characterized as current source. To nd the optimum
point for the maximum power generation, users have to trade off
between these two areas. To calculate V mpp , the tangent of IV
curve has been calculated as:

dI
qI0
qV

exp
94
dV
nN s kB T
nN s kB T
Assuming that the variation of output power is non-sensitive to
the changes in voltage around the MPP point and hence:

nN s kB T
nN s kB T I sc
ln
V mpp
95
q
qI 0 V oc
I mpp and P mpp have been formulated as well. These three
equations can be utilized together to estimate key parameters of
cell at MPP as a function of environmental variables. Saturation
current and diode quality factor have also been derived, respectively, as:

I sc;ref I T T ref
I0
96
h
i
qV oc;ref v T T ref
1
exp
nN s kB T
n

q V m;ref V oc;ref
1

I
N s kB T ref
ln 1 m;ref
97
I sc;ref
At this stage, the model is prepared and thus the actual data i.e.
solar irradiation, cell temperature, and datasheet values are
required to calculate all parameters. The proposed model has been
validated using a reference model obtained by numerically solving
the aforementioned equations for three key points i.e. I sc , V oc , and
MPP. To solve the reference model, the values of series and shunt
resistances and ideality factor for different types of PV arrays have
been extracted as well. The results through iterative methods
compared to those found through this approach indicate accuracy
of this model. This method is useful for engineers since it provides
them with accurate PV array model which is easy to implement in
the software while no need to use any iterative technique.
Sandrolini et al. [61] have proposed a numerical method to
estimate parameters of double-diode model of solar PV cell (or
module). Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has been utilized in
order to t the numerically calculated IV curve with that one
obtained experimentally. Since the behavior of optimization
techniques is usually stochastic, the cluster analysis has also been
conducted to accurately approximate PV module parameters.
There are seven parameters in double-diode model and each can
152
be considered as a particle in PSO. This algorithm is normally

initialized randomly and the particles (seven unknown parameters) change their positions in a seven-dimensional space until
the particles locate at their best positions. The position criteria can
be met by keeping on unchanged particle values or reaching to a
prexed number of iterations. Finally, the solution is determined
whenever the objective function is minimized. Since extraction of
parameters is a repetitive task, so many solutions are generated
accordingly. The best solution can be recognized through the
cluster analysis which is a statistical approach and enables users to
analyze the data (currentvoltage characteristics) obtained
through PSO (see Fig. 28).
In this case, there are two tting criteria i.e. area and distance
(that determine the distribution of parameters). The former relies
on the comparison between the area of calculated and measured
characteristics. Whenever the area criterion (which should be
about 0.01%) becomes zero, it means that the area of calculated
characteristic is equal to the measured one. The latter criterion is a
measure for the normalized distance between a point on the calculated characteristic and its corresponding point on the experimental curve. This distance should be within a specied range no
more than 1%. The results indicate that the distance criterion is
more reliable than the area criterion because the value of convergence obtained through the distance criteria is zero. Since this
method relies on an optimization algorithm (i.e. PSO in here), its
run-time is high. The user must also have a good knowledge about
programming and writing source codes to impalement the algorithm and hence it makes this method less user-friendly.
d'Alessandro et al. [62] have introduced a straightforward noninvasive method to estimate the shunt resistance of solar PV cell.
In this method, there is no need to have prior knowledge about the
technical characteristics of PV cell intrinsic diode. The shunt
resistance has been approximated through the slope of IV curves
(in the voltage range that PV cell behavior is similar to a resistor).
To obtain these curves the cell should be kept intentionally in the
darkness while voltage and current are being measured. This
approach has been validated by evaluating the shunt resistance of
PV array consisting of 10 commercial silicon modules. Shunt
resistance varies in a range between 2 and 20 k cm2. The PV
string has been fully exposed to sunshine. Since voltage across the
shaded cell in a string is negative, the bypass diode is activated.
That portion of current, generated by other active PV cells, passes
through the bypass diode and thus the weak sub-panel current is
forced to ow in shunt resistance of the dark cell (see Fig. 29). The
dark cell is imposed by a high negative voltage (about 12.5V)
across it and hence sub-panel conducts through the shunt
resistance.
By changing the voltage across the string, the current also
varies and the shunt resistance of shaded cell at V string V oc can be
calculated through:

V oc
P
2
1
98
Rsh;dark Rqlm 2 2 2 2A N:M:n:V T :

I sc I sc I =2
I sc
I sc
where Rqlm is the average value of current-dependent resistance; P A is the area under PV string IV curve; I =2 is the average
value of I string in quasi-linear region and is usually a small fraction
of the short-circuit current (I sc ) unless the shaded cell shows a
very low shunt resistance (Rsh;dark ) in the darkness; M is the
number of the cells in each panel; N is the number of the subpanels separated by bypass diode.
To ensure this method is reliable, this system has been simulated in PSpice. The results prove that this method can be successfully exploited where a PV string consists of hundreds of low
quality PV cells. It can also be utilized in order to conduct PV
module failure analysis even at level of an individual solar cell (for
the purpose of PV cell/module quality assurance test). This method
Fig. 34. Crossing-mates genetic algorithm owchart [69].
is also useful to monitor PV cell degrading effect resulted by prolonged light exposure.
El Shahat [63] proposed a modeling approach using articial
neural network (ANN). This method has been evaluated for Schott
ASE-300-DGF PV panel. Matlab environment has been utilized to
mathematically implement the model. The mathematical circuit
based model of the PV cell and module have been derived based
on conventional topologies i.e. single-diode and double-diode.
In this method, the behavior of PV module equivalent circuit is
closely matched with the real one. IV curves at different levels of
temperature and irradiance have been plotted with a very good
accuracy compared to real PV panel. As shown in Figs. 30 and 31,
output voltage, current, and power of PV module have been
plotted for different irradiation and temperature levels. The relationships between plotted 3-dimensional surfaces have been taken
into account as the training or learning data and desired target for
the general neural network simulation. ANN characteristic makes
it possible to interpolate between the points and draw all derived
mathematical equations as the mapping face or surface. As illustrated in Fig. 32, the proposed ranges of irradiance and temperature as well as corresponding values of voltage, current, and
power have been considered as model inputs and outputs for the
ANN algorithm, respectively. Neural network algorithm uses the
back propagation (BP) learning technique because this approach
makes it possible to estimate values in between learning values.
BP technique is also useful where the interpolation between the
learning curve data is required.
A modeling approach that exploits genetic optimization algorithm has been introduced by Ismail et al. [64]. This method is able
to calculate seven parameters correspond to PV cell double-diode
equivalent circuit. The performance of PV system under shading
condition has also been studied in this paper. Parameters of solar
cell can be optimized globally and obtained over a vast range of
irradiation and operating temperature using this approach. Manufacturer datasheet information has been utilized together with
average error tness function to create the objective function and
implement the optimization algorithm. Seven parameters (i.e.
photon current, rst and second diodes reverse saturation currents, diode ideality factors, and series as well as parallel resistances) are needed to calculate the solar cell output voltage and
153
maximum voltage, and maximum current are exploited as data

inputs. To impelemt the fuzzy regression method, it has been
considered two series
of data i.e. standard and fuzzy data.
In standard data, yi ; xi1 ; ; xin is the vector of given data, yi is
the output at ith sample and xij is the jth input or explanatory
variable. In this case, the linear possiblty regression model has
been formulated as:
yi A0 A1 xi1 An xin

Y i yi Z h; i 1; ; N
Fig. 35. The distinct regions on IV characteristic of organic solar cell for parameter
extraction [69].
current. Two possibilities have been investigated to obtain these

parameters. In the former, seven parameters have been estimated
within the decision vector using genetic algorithm. In the latter,
single-diode model of PV cell has been considered rstly which
means that the values of ideality factor and resistances are known
in advance. Then, rest of unknowns (photon and reverse saturation
currents) has been estimated by genetic algorithm. The objective
function of this optimization problem is the absolute error average
between the current value in manufacturer's datasheet and the
calculated current given by:
Error ave
p
X

abs I j curve I j V j ; Gj ; T j ; DV =p
99
j1
where p is the number of points considered,

I j curve is the

current obtained through the datasheet, I j V j ; Gj ; T j ; DV is the
current calculated at voltage V j , solar irradiation Gj , temperature
T j , and the decision vector DV as:

100
DV I ph ; I 01 ; I 02 ; a1 ; a2 ; RS ; RP
where I ph is photon current, I 01 , I 01 , a1 , a2 are rst and second
diodes reverse saturation currents and ideality factors, RS and RP
are series and parallel resistances in double-diode equivalent circuit, respectively. To calculate the solar cell output current (85)
and (86) have been utilized taking into account that PV current is a

function of voltage current which is I pv f I pv ; V pv . Newton
Raphson method has been chosen as the iterative numerical
method in order to solve this equation (see Fig. 33) as:
0
1
h I pv ; V pv
@
A
I pvn 1 I pvn
101
dhI pv ;V pv
dIpv
at I pv I pvn

where h I pv ; V pv I pv f I pv ; V pv 0, I pvn is the present value
of current, and I pvn 1 is the next value of current. PV cell output
current can be obtained through iteration in such a way that the
error between the current value and previous value becomes less
than the certain tolerance.
The PV cell single-diode and double-diode models have been
implemented to validate accuracy of this technique. This method
has been simulated in Matlab/Simulink and merged with EFB
method. To verify the efcacy of the proposed method, the results
obtained through the simulation have been compared to datasheet
values and hence it conrms an acceptable level of accuracy.
Elshatter et al. [65,66] developed a PV cell model using fuzzy
based regression. They used single-diode equivalent circuit of solar
cell. Experimental data associated with three key points (i.e. shortcircuit, open-circuit, and MPP) on IV curve has been utilized
together with dynamic series and shunt resistances to obtain the
ve parameters. Panel surface tmeperature, solar irradiation, panel
102
where Y i is the possibility distribution fucntion. Ai is the fuzzy

coefcient which is a symmetrical number i ; ci L and determined

by the degree of h. h corresponds to the given information yi ; xi
that includes in deduced fuzzy number yi . A0 is a fuzzy constant.
The total width of yi can be minimized when the sum of errors in
conventional regression analysis becomes minimum. To implement the linear possibilty model the minimization fucntion can be
implemented by linear programming (LP) given by:
X
ct jxi j
minJ c
;c

yi r xti L 1 hct jxi j

yi Z xti L 1 hct jxi j
c Z 0 and i 1; ; N
103
t
where c c1 ; cn and xi xi1 ; xin . Considering triangular

fuzzy coefcient, L 1 jxj. By linear programming the fuzzy
coefcients i and ci (center
and width) can be calculated as well.

In fuzzy data, yi ; xi is the given data vector where i 1; ; N.
yi is the fuzzy output and expressed by:

104
Y i yi ; ei L

Given the fuzzy data yi ; xi , maximum and minimum problems
to nd A and A can be formulated as:
X t
105
c jxi j
min jc
Ai i ;ci L
where i 1; ; N;
Y i A1 xi1 An xin + Y i
106
and,
max
Ah h ;ch L
jc
ct jxi j
107
where i 1; ; N;
Y i A1 xi1 An xin D Y i
108
The results of this work indicate that the fuzzy regression

method can accurately model PV panel using conventional data i.e.
open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and environmental
data. It is also applicable for any kind of solar PV technology. This
method can be exploited for on-line applications since it needs a
Table 3
Experimental data compared to calculated data for Grey Solar Cell [78].
Parameters Experimental
data [81,82]
W-function STFT
Accuracy (%)
(W-function)
Accuracy
(%) (STFT)
Voc (V)
Isc (A)
Rso()
Rsho ()
Vmp (V)
Imp (A)
FF
T (K)
0.52093
0.55931
0.16121
25.896
0.38473
0.48335
0.63824
0.585
0.301
0.487
0.015
1.35
0.488
0.037
0.209
0.301
0.320
0.513
1.035
0.486
0.057
0.524
0.561
0.162
25.9
0.390
0.481
0.638
307
0.52248
0.55931
0.16148
25.767
0.38596
0.48334
0.63837
154
To extract ve parameters of PV cell model, the tness function

has been equated as:

h
i2
Pp
I exp V k I cal V k ; X
k1
F X
113
p
Fig. 36. The PV cells/modules/arrays model based on TWIESN.
very short run-time and memory size. It can be embeded in a

microcomputer as well.
Patel et al. [67] have determined ve parameters of PV cell
single-diode equivalent circuit using teaching learining based
optimization (TLBO) algorithm. This algorothm is simple, reliable,
and efceint. It exploits the teaching and learning concepts in a
classroom and the rst time was proposed by Rao et al. [68]. This
technique utilizes a population of solutions and nds the global
optimum based on real numbers. This optimiztion method relies
on the propagation of the knowledge between the learners in a
classroom. Once a group (or individual) of learners understands
the lesson taught by the teacher, it can interact with other groups
or individuals in order to distribute the knowledge among them.
The design parameters that should be optimized depend on differernt subjects proposed to learners. A specic tness function (or
tness of learners) has been formulated as the objective funstion
in this work. Fitness fuction is a measure to determine the ability
(F X ) of an object X in propagation of the knowledge. The tness
of a population will enhance if the distribution of knowledge
improves through two phases i.e. Teacher phase and Learner
phase. The teacher is the highly learned individual within the
population. The better the teacher, the more the trained learners
can be acheived. The algorithm pushes the learning objects (X i )
towards the position of teacher (X teacher ) and hence increases the
tness of individuals. In this case, mean value of individuals
(X mean ) is utilized that determines the individual quality within the
population. The teacher varies the learners in the classroom as:
X new X i r U X teacher T F U X mean
109
where i 1; 2; 3; ; N and N is the number of learners in the

classroom. X new is the modied version of learner X i . If X new is
better than X i , it replaces X i , otherwise, it is neglected. r is a
number generated randomly between 0 and 1 and indicates the
portion of knowledge that is shared during the interaction. Value
of zero shows that the learner learns nothing and 1 represents that
the learner learns everything. T F is teaching factor and determines
the value of X mean (1 r T F r 2) and given by:

T F round 1 rand0; 1
110
Each learner in the population interact with other learners

randomly to enhanc its level of knowledge. If the knowledge of
learner X i is more than X j (i a j), X j will proceed towards X i position. To modify the tness, the learner phase can be represented
mathematically as:

X new X i r X i X j ; If f X i 4 f X j ;
ia j
111

X new X i r X j X i ; If f X i o f X j ;
i a j
112
where I exp V k is the value of current (I) obtained experimentally at volatge V k . I cal V k ; X is the value of current calculated
through the IV sigle-diode equation. p is the total number of
voltage steps on IV curve for a given set of parameters (i:e: X i
I oi ; I phi ; ni ; Rsi ; and Rshi ) at volatge V k . The objective is to minimize
the tness function in order to make the measured and calculated
values as close as possible to each other. In this paper, the set of
solar cell parameters have been considered as a learner X i . An
individual parameter of PV cell has been dened as a subject.The
teacher and learner phases modify the value of parameters and the
tness function by continous evolation of TLBO algorithm. To run
the TLBO algorithm, three parameters should be known in advance
i.e. population size (i.e. classroom strength), search space (i.e.
range of random numbers for each parameter), and number of
iterations. Using TLBO algorithm proposed in this paper, ve
parameters of silicon solar cell, Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC),
and a silicon solar module have been extracted accurately compared to experimental values. The results show that TLBO is a very
benecial and effective tool in order to estimate the ve parameters of a PV cell.
In another work, Moldovan et al. [69] suggeted genetic algorithm (GA) in order to approximate the parameters of a solar cell
IV equation. In this case, the Lambert function has been exploited
to reperesent the PV cell mathematical description. The solar cell
model proposed in this paper consists of four parameters associated with lumped equivalent circuit. Taking into account the
single-diode model of a PV solar cell, IV equation can be simply
sovled in terms of Lambert W function [7075] given by:
"

!#

Rp I ph Rs I o Rs V
V I ph I o Rp
I o Rs Rp
nV th

exp

I
W
Rs
Rs Rp
nV th Rs Rp
nV th Rs Rp
114
and,

Rp I ph I o I
I o Rp
exp
V I ph I o I Rp IRs nV th W
nV th
nV th
115
where V th is the thermal voltage. Therefore, each variable I and

V can be written as an explicit function of other parameters where
the Lambert W function is dened as the soultion of:
W xexpW x x
116
Eqs. (114) and (115) are more suitable computational alternatives

than single-diode conventional transcendental equation (to be
solved using iterative solvers) because Lambert function is easy to
implement through every programming language. However, these
equations are inappropriate for the purpose of obtaining PV cell
parameters [69] and hecne GA has been also utilized in this work.
Crossing-mates is the kind of GA that has been selected among the
rest. As shown in Fig. 34, The procedure begins from a seed and
then a set of individuals (a population) is produced. Each individual
is composed by the value list of parameters that should be estimated. The error between measured and calculated currents is
given by:
q
X
f
imeaured icalculated 2
117
This error should be minimized and hence the best individual
which generates minimum error is chosen to form the new
population in each iteration. This process continues until the error
falls bellow a certain threshold.
This method has been compared to direct extraction method

which denes different operating regions on IV curve and the
extraction of parameters is limited to these area [69,70,76]. As
illustrated in Fig. 35, In Region I, diode is off and the solar cell
operation is similar to a current source. This region is suitable to
obtain the values of photocurrent and the resistances. In Region II,
the diode is on and thus the ideality factor value and reverse
saturation current can be estimated.
The results indicate that the method of this paper is more
accurate and reliable than direct method especially where the
parameters are highly correlated in low power solar PV cells.
Singh et al. [77,78] have extratced single-diode solar cell
equivalent circuit parameters using special transfer function theory (STFT). STFT can solve the transcendental equations easily [79].
The solutions obtained through this theory are accurate, analytical,
and differentiable. The idea of STFT originated from [80]. The
general format of multi-dimetional STFT can be written as:

155
Table 4
Comparison between parameters obtained through iterative method and analytical
expression for two types of solar cell [82].
Experimental data, Unit
Blue cell
Grey cell
Voc, V
Isc, A
V m, V
Im, A
Rso ,
Rsho,
T, K
Results
0.536
0.1023
0.437
0.0925
0.45
1000
300
Iterative
Analytical
0.524
0.561
0.390
0.481
0.162
25.9
307
Iterative
Analytical
Iph, A
n
I S ; A
Rs ,
Rsh ,
0.1023
1.5017
0.1034
68.51
1003.1
0.1023
1.5019
0.1036
68.26
1000
0.5627
1.7168
5.326
78.52
26.03
0.5610
1.7225
5.514
77.69
25.9
x1 ; x2 ; ; xn U x1 ; x2 ; ; xn exp x1 ; x2 ; ; xn ; U x1 ; x2 ; ; xn A R
118
STFT yeilds an explicit expression for PV cell current in terms of
its terminal voltage based on single-diode IV equation as:

1

!0
V
nV th 1 RRshs
Rsh I ph I 0
@

trans D 1A
119
I
1 RRshs
Rs I 0 I ph RVsh
or

I
!

I ph I 0 RVsh
1 RRshs
!!
Px
Dm x mm
nV th
0
m!
D Px m
1 Dm x 1 mm
Rs
m0
120
m!
where
!!
Px
Dm x mm
0
m!
trans D Z lim D Px m
m
m
1 D x 1 m
x-1
m0
121
m!
and,
Fig. 37. Input parameters using IV characteristics [94].
1
0

Rs I 0 I ph RV
sh

A
I 0 Rs exp nVVth exp@
nV th 1 RRs

nV th 1 RRshs
sh
122
Here x species the greatest integer which is less than or

equal to x. The short-circuit current is obtained by substituting V
0 and open-circuit volatge is calculated by replacing I 0 in
(120). By using derivative of trans function, series Rso and shunt
Rsho dynamic resistances can be evaluated as:

I
1
1
trans D

123
Rs
Rs 1 trans D
V
Rsh 1 Rsh
Rs 1 Rsh
where

1
I
Rso
V V V oc
124
I0

1
I
Rsho
V V 0
125
I I sc
By substituting the model parameters in (123), the values of

dynamic resistances can be determined. To nd V mp and I mp ,
derivative of power in terms of terminal volatges should become
zero as:

P
0
126
V V V mp
I I mp
and thus the derivative of power in terms of volatge at MPP is

given by:

2V
P Rsh I 0 I ph
nV
V
trans D

th trans D
Rs 1 trans D
V
Rs
1 RRs
Rs 1
sh
Rsh
127
The optimum value of V mp is obtained by solving (127) and
taking into account (126). Once V mp is claculated I mp is optimally
computed using (120). The ll factor, that denes the degree of IV
curve squarness, can be calculated through:
FF
V mp I mp
V oc I sc
128
To validate the accuracy of STFT method, the solar cell parameters of three types i.e. Grey, Blue, and Plastic solar cells have
been extracted using different methods [75,81,82] and the results
compared to STFT. It has been proved that STFT approach is more
accurate than Lambert W-function method and needs a very
shorter run-time (see Table 3).
Laudani et al. [83,84] presented a method to extract ve
parameters of the single-diode model through the PV panel
experimental IV curve. Two reduced forms have been introduced
through which the ve parameters of the model have been divided
into two groups i.e. independent and dependent unknowns. The
rst reduced form is useful in order to extract parameters from
datasheet information [83]. The second reduced form, proposed in
[84], is useful to identify ve parameters from the operating
156
(experimental) data. In [83], non-linear solver (i.e. fsolve in Matlab)

has been utilized to obtain the reduced ve parameter model. In
[84], a convex optimization problem has been formulated to solve
the set of equations and a general analysis on [83] and [84] has
been conducted in [85]. Laudani et al. [86] also presented a hybrid
neural network approach in which I ph , I 0 , and Rp have been formulated as explicit functions of a and Rs in the reduced form. The
neural network estimates a and Rs and the rest of parameters are
calculated analytically through the equations of reduced form.
Lun et al. [87] exploited time warp invariant echo state network
(TWIESN) to model PV arrays. TWIESN is a variety of echo state
network (ESN) which can effectively deal with time warping in
dynamic pattern recognition. Through ESN a recurrent neural
network can be easily trained. Hence, difculties (such as complexity in implementation of learning algorithms, slow convergence, and training suboptimal solutions) associated with other
training methods can be resolved by ESN. ESN is able to train
readouts while the reservoir weights and inputs are remained
untrained. In this paper, the proposed technique can predict the I
V curves at any operating conditions e.g. during the partial shading. This modeling approach has utilized real operating data of PV
arrays and hence described the dependency of solar cell on realtime variations of environmental and cell parameters. In this
method, there is no need to solve a system of non-linear equations. As shown in Fig. 36, the model selects cell temperature,
irradiance, and voltage as inputs and IV characteristic as output
variables. Experimental results show that the model of PV array
through TWIESN is accurate, robust, and effective at any operating
conditions.
In [88], a hybrid adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)
algorithm has been introduced to extract PV cell single-diode
model parameters. ANFIS belongs to the family of intelligent
algorithms. It is a combination of neural networks (NN) and fuzzy
inference systems (FIS). The former groups recognize patterns and
adapt themselves to handle with changing situations. The latter
groups incorporate human knowledge and perform inference and
decision making. Using these complementary techniques beside
an optimization algorithm makes systems very accurate. The
suggested method decomposes PV cell output current into photocurrent and junction current. Photocurrent varies linearly in
terms of solar irradiance and cell temperature and hence it has
been calculated analytically. However, the variation of junction
current is quite non-linear with respect to the cell voltage and
temperature. Manufacturers datasheet do not provide any information about the junction current value and it is difcult to
compute it analytically. There is also no way to measure junction
current through the experiment. ANFIS algorithm has been
exploited to obtain the junction current and hence reconstruct the
PV cell output current. The model validation is based on the gradient descent and chain rule applied to a set of data which differ
from those used in the training process. Only one climatic parameter i.e. temperature has been considered as the climatic input to
the ANFIS algorithm and hence this makes the model robust with
respect to climatic variations.
Khanna et al. [89], modeled an industrial silicon solar cell
power plant through three-diode PV cell equivalent circuit. They
have compared double-diode model of PV cell with triple-diode
model. Their results conrm that the double-diode model ideality
factors that have been obtained using particle swarm optimization
(PSO), do not comply with the theoretical values (i.e. n1 1 and
n2 2) available in the literature. It has been shown that two
diodes of the double-diode model cannot adequately differentiate
between different current components of the solar cells. Hence,
the three-diode model has been proposed in this paper to analyze
the experimental data precisely. In this model, the PV cell series
resistance is supposed to vary in terms of the cell output current.
Start
Initialize Rs, Rsh

And Vt
Vt = f(Rs, Rsh) from

expression of Impp
New
Rs
Newton-Raphson or
Bisection method
New
Rs
Rsh = f(Rs, Vt) from

expression of dP/dV
dP/ dV@MPP = 0 ?
NO
YES
NO
dI/dV@Isc = -1/Rsh ?
YES
Final values for

Rs, Rsh, and Vt
End
Fig. 38. Algorithm to determine the solar panel parameters [34].
All the parameters of the proposed model have been estimated by

PSO algorithm and compared to those obtained for two-diode
model. In comparison with double-diode model, triple-diode
model is more accurate since it can clearly dene different components of PV cell current.
Dizqah et al. [90] have proposed a model which approximates
the single-diode parameters of PV module trough information
available at STC and NOCT. A multi-objective global optimization
problem has been formulated by the PV module main equations at
these two conditions. Genetic algorithm (GA) has been combined
with the interior-point method (IPM) and hence this makes the
model to be fast and accurate for any kind of PV technology. The
overall error introduced in this approach is the summation
between the MPP errors in both STC and NOCT conditions. The
results show satisfactory improvement in overall error for all PV
technologies.
Oliva et al. [91] have exploited ABC (articial bee colony)
algorithm to accurately estimate the PV cell parameters. The ABC
algorithm is an evolutionary optimization technique that simulates the intelligent foraging behavior of honey bees. To resolve
multi-modal objective functions, ABC shows a more acceptable
search capacity than other evolutionary methods. In this paper, the
problem of solar cell modeling is approached considering both
PV cell single-diode and double-diode models. The estimation of
PV cell equivalent circuit parameters has been formulated as an
optimization problem resolved by ABC algorithm. The parameters have been considered as a candidate solution. The matching
quality between the experimental data and a candidate solution

has been evaluated by an objective function. The value of objective
function guides the ABC algorithm to go forward. In this method,
using operator dened by ABC, a set of candidate solutions has
been created and hence those parameters that can closely match
with the experimental data have obtained. To prove the accuracy
of this modeling technique, it has been compared to other methods such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm
(GA), and bacterial foraging algorithm (BFA). The experimental
results conrm robustness and accuracy of this method.
Fathy [92] has proposed modied articial bee colony (MABC)
algorithm to overcome the ABC drawbacks i.e. falling in local
optimal solutions and convergence problem. The former problem
has been resolved by feeding the corresponding obtained food
source to the ABC algorithm as an initial source of food. The process has been continued until the global optimal solution has been
obtained. The latter problem (that is resulted by limited number of
controlling parameters) has been resolved by adding a factor
which reects the importance of each food source. Double-diode
model of solar PC cell has been exploited in this work. The proposed MABC algorithm is faster than ABC by 2.1 s.
2.2.2. Numerical techniques
Implicit non-linear equations which represent the behavior of a
solar cell cannot be solved simultaneously through common elementary mathematics. To solve the system of equations, iterative
numerical equation solvers have been introduced in the literatures
such as GaussSidel and NewtonRaphson. For example, Newton
Raphson method can be utilized to obtain roots of implicit transcendental equations and is very popular between numerical
approaches. This iterative solver is simple and fast convergence
[93].
Phang et al. [82] derived an analytical expression to extract
parameters of solar cell single-diode model using experimental
data. In this method, diode reverse saturation current, ideality
factor, series and parallel resistances can be determined by means
of NewtonRaphson method which can solve a system of nonlinear equations. At a given solar irradiation, the IV characteristic
of PV cell single-diode mode is equated by:

V IRS
V IRS
I S exp
1
I I ph
Rsh
nV T
129
It is possible to nd the single-diode equivalent circuit parameters (i.e. RS , Rsh , I S , and n) from the values available in datasheet
Datasheet values
a1
I SC
V oc
a2
V mpp
a3
a4
I mpp
a5
nS
Unknown parameters
I ph
x1
I0
x2
Vt
x3
RS
x4
Rsh
x5
Rsho
x6
Output quantities of the PV source
I
y1
V
y2
P
y3
(i.e. V oc ; I sc ; V m ; I m ; Rso and Rsho ) using bellow nonlinear equations:

V oc
I SC RS
RS
V oc
I S exp
I SC 1
exp
0
130
nV T
nV T
Rsh
Rsh

1
IS
V oc
exp
1 0
Rsh nV T
nV T
RSO RS
Short-circuit current
Open-circuit voltage
Voltage at MPP
Current at MPP
Number of cells in series in a module
Photo-generated current
Dark saturation current
Junction voltage
Series resistance
Parallel resistance
Effective resistance at short-circuit
Output current
Output voltage
Output power
131
1
1
IS
I SC RS
exp
0
Rsh Rsho RS nV T
nV T
132

V oc V oc V m
RS
V m RS I m
1
0
I m I S exp
I S exp
nV T
Rsh
Rsh
nV T
133
However, using this method increases computational burden

and needs an accurate initial guess in order to get convergence.
The proposed analytical expression summarizes above equation by
some logical assumptions as:

The term
exp I SC RS =nV T can be ignored since is much less than

I S exp
I SC RS =nV T ;
1 RS =Rsh can be
as 1 since RS {Rsh ;
written

The term I S =nV T exp V oc =nV T is much greater than 1=Rsh ;
The term I S =nV T exp ISC RS =nV T is much less than other terms
and can be neglected.
and thus (130) through (133) can be re-written as:

V oc
V oc
I S exp
0
I SC
nV T
Rsh

IS
V oc
1 0
exp
nV T
nV T
134

RSO RS
135
Rsh Rsho
136
V oc V oc V m
V m RS I m
I m I S exp
0
I S exp
nV T
Rsh
nV T
137
Using (134) through (137) analytical expressions of ideality

factor (n), reverse saturation current (I S ), series resistance (RS ), and
photon current (I ph ) can be given by:
n
V m RSO I m V oc

m
V T ln I SC RVsho
I m ln I SC VRshoc I

V oc
V oc
I S I SC
exp
Rsh
nV T
138
Im
SC V oc =Rsho
139

nV T
V oc
exp
IS
nV T
140

RS
I SC RS
I ph I SC 1
1
I S exp
Rsh
nV T
141
RS RSO
Table 5
List of transformed variables [95].
157
Eqs. (138) through (141) can be resolved by any iterative solver

which is NewtonRaphson in here. Suggested method is valid for a
broad range of series and parallel resistances as well as solar
radiation. Comparison between parameters calculated through
iterative and analytical methods conrms less than 5% error for
most solar cells (see Table 4).
In another similar work an analytical expression has been also
formulated by Chan et al. [94] for the solar cell double-diode
model. By these assumptions that a1 1 and a2 2, the doublediode equivalent circuit parameters (i.e. I ph ,I s1 , I s2 , RS , and Rsh ) at
certain radiation and temperature levels can be obtained by
evaluating double-diode IV equation at V oc ; I sc ; V m ; I m ; Rso and Rsho
as shown in Fig. 37.
158
Fig. 39. The series combination of solar modules can be lumped as a single-diode model [95].

V oc
V m I m RS
V oc
V m I m RS
I s1 exp
I s2 exp
exp
exp
VT
VT
2V T
2V T
V oc V m
I m 0
Rsh
Table 6
Datasheet values of an array in relation to a module
[95].
Module datasheet values Equivalent array values
ISC N pp
V OC N ss
V mpp N ss
Impp N pp
ns N ss
I SC
V OC
V mpp
I mpp
nS
Rsh Rsho
By eliminating I ph between short-circuit and open-circuit, I SC

has been yield by:

V oc
I SC RS
V oc
I SC RS
V oc I SC RS
I SC I s1 exp
I s2 exp
exp
exp
VT
VT
2V T
2V T
Rsh
142
If the assumed double-diode IV equation is differentiated
in terms of I (at the open-circuit and short-circuit points) the term

dV=dI at oc RSO and dV=dI at SC Rsho , respectively, and
hence it yields:

I s1
V oc I s2
V oc
1
RSO RS
exp
exp
1 0
143
VT
V T 2V T
2V T Rsh
I s1
I SC RS I s2
I SC RS 1
exp
exp
1 0
VT
VT
2V T
2V T Rsh
Rsho RS
144
By substituting the values of current and voltage at maximum

power point into assumed double-diode IV equation and by
nding photon current (I ph ) at open-circuit point another equation
has been derived as:

RS
V oc
V m I m RS
V oc
V m I m RS
Im 1
exp
exp
I s1 exp
I s2 exp
Rsh
VT
VT
2V T
2V T
V oc V m
Rsh
145
I s1 , I s2 , RS , and Rsh can be calculated by numerically solving

(142) through (145) and in this paper NewtonRaphson solver has
been used for this purpose. The proposed analytical expression has
been derived by summarizing (142) through (145) and by making
some assumptions as:
V
expnV
c expInVR , where n 1 or 2
Rsh ; Rsho c RS
VI expI V R , 2VI expI2VR {R1 and I SC RS {V oc .
oc
SC
s1
SC
s2
SC
sho
Thus, (142) through (145) have been re-written accordingly as:

V oc
V oc
V oc
I s1 exp
I s2 exp
I SC 0
146
VT
2V T
Rsh

RSO RS

I s1
V oc I s2
V oc
exp
exp
1 0
VT
V T 2V T
2V T
147
148
149
By removing I s1 and I s2 from (146) through (148) and using

(148) a nonlinear equation in terms of RS is derived which has
been solved using Quadratic or cubic solutions. The rest of parameters including (i.e. I ph ,I s1 , I s2 , and Rsh ) have been given by:

V oc
2V T
exp V oc =V T
I SC
150
I s1
Rsho
RSO RS

V oc
VT
exp V oc =2V T
I s2 I SC
Rsho RSO RS

Rsh
1
I s1
I SC RS I s2
I SC RS
exp

exp
Rsho RS V T
VT
2V T
2V T
151
1

V oc
V oc
V oc
1 I s2 exp
1
I ph I s1 exp
VT
2V T
Rsh
152
153
Equations (150) through (153) can be resolved by Newton

Raphson method as well. In this paper, three types of solar cell
have been examined from different manufacturers. The parameters of double-diode model have been extracted for these PV
cells under standard test conditions in a computer controlled
measurement system. The results show that the accurate solutions
have been acquired using original Eqs. (142) through (145). In the
case of analytical expression model, the errors associated with
quadratic solution have been much higher than cubic solution and
the results closely follow the original model.
Sera et al. [34] have presented a method in order to extract ve
parameters of single-diode PV panel model based on values that
are available on datasheet. This method also embeds the temperature and irradiance dependency in the formulation of PV
panel model. According to this method, in single-diode IV Eq. (2)
the term 1 can be neglected since the exponential term is
bigger than dark saturation current term. To nd the ve parameters, ve equations are required and hence IV equation of
single-diode equivalent circuit for three key points i.e. short-circuits, open-circuit, and maximum power points can be re-written
as:

v iRS
I SC RS

I SC I ph I 0 exp
nS V t
Rsh
154

vmpp impp RS
I mpp RS
I mpp I ph I 0 exp

nS V t
Rsh
155

V oc
V oc

0
I oc I ph I 0 exp
nS V t
Rsh
156
159
Fig. 40. Algorithm of suggested modeling method in [96].
where V t AkTq stc , A is ideality factor, and nS is the number of

cells in panel connected in series. Two more equations are
required to complete the system of ve equations and hence by
considering two bellow facts, these equations can be derived as:

dP
0
dV V V mpp
I I mpp
V mpp
I SC Rsh V oc I SC RS exp
V mpp I mpp RS V oc
nS V t
nS V t Rsh
I SC Rsh V oc I SC RS exp
R1sh
V mpp I mpp RS V oc
nS V t
nS V t Rsh
157
RRshS
R V oc
I SC Rsh V oc I SC RS exp SC nS V

S t

R1sh
dI
1
nS V t Rsh

I SC RS V oc

V
0
dV
Rsho
I SC Rsh V oc I SC RS exp n V
S t
I I sc
1
RRshS
nS V t Rsh
158
Thus, the ve equations for ve unknowns are ready to be

solved by any numerical method (e.g. NewtonRaphson) as shown
in Fig. 38.
To include effects of the irradiance and temperature into this
model photon current has been given by:
I ph T I 0 T exp
V oc T V oc T
nS V t
Rsh
V oc T V oc kv T T stc
and,

V oc T I SC T RS
V oc T
exp
I 0 T I SC T
nS V t
Rsh

k
I SC T I SC 1 i T T stc
100
I mpp
where
159
160
161
162
kv and ki are temperature coefcient for open-circuit voltage

and short-circuit current, respectively. This approach makes it
possible for the users to predict the PV panel behavior in various
irradiation and temperature levels. Comparison between the
datasheet values and the values obtained through this method
conrms the accuracy of this model.
In another similar work, Chatterjee et al. [95] presented a
method to estimate PV module single-diode equivalent circuit ve
parameters using manufacturer's datasheet information. After
extracting the model for a PV module, it has been generalized and
upgraded to estimate the parameters associated with an array of
modules. Five unknown parameters of PV module equation have
been approximated in STC. This model can also be utilized to nd
MPP under any given environmental conditions. Three equations
associated with I SC , I mpp , and I OC have been extracted (similar
160
where

B a1 U x5 a2 a1 Ux4 =a5 U x3 U x5 ; D a3 a4 U x4 a2 =a5 U x3 ; and
E a1 Ux4 a2 =a5 Ux3
Fig. 41. Model of PV array implemented Matlab/Simulink by using computational

blocks, Im represents a controlled current source [24,98].
to (154) through (156) in [34]) from the basic mathematical relationship between I pv and V pv assuming the term 1 being
neglected. To represent the mathematical equation systematically
variables mentioned in [34] have been transformed as cited in
Table 5.
Thus, taking into account that,

dP
0:
163
dV V V mpp
I I mpp

dI
1

:
dV V 0
Rsho
164
a3 G; T a2 G; T a4 G; T U x4 a5 x3 U U
I I sc
and using the transformation Table 5, PV module output current can be obtained as:

y y1 U x4
y y1 Ux4
y1 x1 x2 exp 2
165
2
a5 U x3
x5
By rearranging (156) and using Table 5 photocurrent can be
rewritten as:

a2
a2
x1 x2 exp
166
a5 U x3
x5
By substitution of x1 into (154) and (165), y1 and a1 have been
obtained by:

a2
y y1 U x4
a2 y2 y1 Ux4
y1 x2 exp
167
exp 2
a5 U x3
a5 U x3
x5

a2
a2 a1 Ux4
a1 x2 exp
a5 Ux3
x5
Eventually, (166) and (169) through (172) have been obtained

to nd ve parameters of PV module single-diode model. The
numerical method adopted to solve transcendental system of
equations has been GaussSeidel method.
To model a string of modules, the series combination of solar
modules can be lumped as a single-diode model keeping the same
parameters as explained for a single module. Between all PV
module parameters, in a string, only series and parallel resistances
should be modied. In a similar approach, an array of modules can
be lumped in a single equivalent model as shown in Fig. 26.
Parameters of an array can be estimated relying on the equivalent
circuit shown in Fig. 39. This approximation depends on the PV
array designed to meet a certain voltage and current levels. Once
the PV module parameters are estimated using the numerical
method (GaussSeidel) and the number of series (Nss) and paralleled (Npp) module is also specied, the array parameters can be
directly calculated (see Table 6).
Similar to the method presented in [34], in this paper, the
impacts of environmental variables i.e. temperature and irradiance
have also been included in the PV module model. In this case,
short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage can be initially
approximated at operating condition. Then, (170) is rearranged
and hence datasheet values are formulated in terms of solar
radiation and temperature as:
where

a1 G; T a4 G; T U x4 x5 a3 G; T
U ln
a1 G; T U x4 x3 a2 G; T
Similarly, (171) can be written as:

a3 U Q G; T =a5 U x3 Ux5 a3 =x5

a4 G; T
1 Q G; T Ux4 =a5 U x3 U x5 x4 =x5
Q G; T a1 G; T U x4 x5 a2 G; T U exp

a3 G; T a4 G; T U x4 a2 G; T
a5 x 3
(173) and (174) have been solved numerically through modied

GaussSeidel method (SUR). The software platform which has
been utilized in this paper is Matlab and the estimated MPP, IV,
168
Substituting x1 from (166) and x2 from (169) into (155), PV

module output current at MPP has been given by:

a3 a4 Ux4 a1 U x4
a2 a1 Ux4
a3 a4 U x4 a2
a4 a1
exp
a1
x5
x5
a5 U x3
170
By applying (163) and (164) on y3 and y1 and assuming that
x5 x6 bellow equations have been derived as:
BexpfDg a3 =x5
1 B U x4 expfDg x4 =x5
171
1
BexpfEg 1=x5
x5 1 B U x4 expfEg x4 =x5
172
174
where
By rearranging (168), dark saturation current (x2 ) yield by:

a2 a1 x4
a2
x2 a1
exp
169
x5
a5 U x3
a4
173
Fig. 42. PV curves plotted for several values of Rs and Rp [24,98].
To implement this model, rstly, the basic mathematical

equations related to a solar cell, bypass and blocking diodes has
been derived by (175) through (177). Secondly, the problem is
formulated using Kirchhoff's electrical current and voltage laws.
The PV array circuit has been supposed to include two layers,
namely, the layer of cell to module and the layer of module to
array. In this paper, the unit stands for a diode or cell in the layer
of cell to module. Similarly, in the level of module to array unit
reects a module or diode. In the layer of cell to module, a group of
cell makes a string and bypass diodes can be connected across one
or more cells (A blocking diode can be in series with the string). To
determine the current through an array in terms of its terminal
voltage, notation I has been introduced which represents the
string current. Also, physical coordinates of a unit indexed by i
are specied by introducing X i ; Y i ; Z i . Environmental variables i.e.
solar irradiation and temperature have also been presented by G
X i ; Y i ; Z i and TX i ; Y i ; Z i . Voltage across and current through are
two unknowns for each unit and thus n units generate 2n
unknown parameters as:
Fig. 43. IV curves plotted for several values of Rs and Rp [24,98].
and PV curves for different environmental conditions correspond

to the information available in manufacturer's datasheet.
Liu et al. [96,97] presented a general algorithm to extract the
exact IV curve of solar PV module and array by simultaneously
solving nonlinear characteristic equations. This model can be used
to study the variability of mismatch effects resulted by the presence of faulty cells, modules, and strings considering different
arrangements of bypass and blocking diodes together with partial
shading. An accurate IV equation based on various PV arrays
geometric and electrical congurations has been derived as well.
Geometric coordinates have been employed to analyze the environmental effects. To represent the IV curve the Bishop's equation
has been used over the whole range of voltage starting from
negative to positive as:

qV Rs I
V Rs I
1
0 g I; V I sc I sat exp
Rsh
kT

V Rs I
aV R s I 1
I
175
V br
where
I sc I sc;r cT T T r
I sat I sat;r
G
Gr
and

3
T
qEg 1 1
exp

Tr
k T r T
161
176
177
and,
g I; V is the characteristic equation of an electrical device (such
as PV cell, by pass and blocking diodes). is diode ideality factor
and is avalanche breakdown (a phenomenon which occurs at a
region of high negative voltage) exponent. I sat and I sat;r are the
diode saturation currents in operating and STC conditions,
respectively. T r and Gr are reference cell temperature (in K) and
irradiance in STC conditions, respectively. V br is the breakdown
voltage (in V). This method is supposed to map V to I and vice
versa. To avoid hot spots and power loss, bypass diode is exploited
in a PV array. Another protective diode utilized in a PV array circutry is blocking diode. It prevents the current to reversely ow
through a string of PV modules. The equation that represets the
operation of these two diodes is given by:

qV
1
178
0 I I sat;d exp
d kT
where I sat;d is saturation current of blocking or bypass diode (in
A) and d is the ideality factor of blocking or bypass diode.
x x1 ; x2 ; ; x2n 1 ; x2n T I 1 ; V 1 ; ; I n ; V n T
179
and hence nonlinear equations associated with a string are

generated by:
0 f x
180
where f x is a vector that includes in n arrays which are element laws and the others are interconnection laws. Eq. (180) can
be solved by numerical or analytical techniques (numerical is more
practical) which nally results in the string current. The damped
Newton approach is robust version of NewtonRaphson method
and has been used to nd roots of (180) in here. To model the
whole system equations numerically, several steps have been
dened as follows:
Datasheet preparation to encode a PV conguration;

Selection of a string in an array or module to construct
numerical functions;
Retrieval of a solution for a string which leads to repetition of

previous steps and extracting the IV curve.
This algorithm is general purpose which any conguration of
basic units can be implemented through. To describe the algorithm
of this method, as shown in Fig. 40, the nal
aim is to update xk in

any iteration in order to satisfy f xk o at a desirable convergence criterion (). Damped Newton method has been exploited based on a nested loop in order to increase the speed of
convergence and robustness of this technique. This model contains
two iterative loops which are so-called outer and inner loops.
The key technique to converge damped Newton method is how to
dene the auxiliary numerical variables in outer loop with respect
to a string. To implement the simulation, a datasheet which codes
the conguration of a PV array have to be prepared in advance and
hence the auxiliary numerical variables can be derived based on
this datasheet. The current of each string is computed once the
roots of nonlinear system of equations are obtained. The total
current is the summation between currents in each string and at
this point the problem is solved. Assume that at initial condition
k 1, k 1, and xk is the initial guess. Firstly, the inner loop is run
to nd updated k 1 , and xk is redened up to a certain condition.
Then, to nd updated xk 1 in terms of k 1 , the outer loop is run.
In this stage, the redened xk , f xk , and Jacobian matrix can also
be obtained as:
J xk xk f
181
where
xk is gradient of xk . The nested loop is run iteratively

until f xk o .
162
To run the inner loop, independent variables have to be dened

as:

q A 0; 1;
tolerance ;
A vector at current xk which is p J xk 1 f xk ;
yj xk and j k for j 1 where j determines j-th iteration of
inner loop.
After this stage, yj and j are updated in inner loop as follows:
a. yj 1 yj j p is updated at j-th iteration;

b. Let j , y yj and return to outer loop if f yj 1 o

1 qj f yj or yj 1 yj o , otherwise, update j 1
j =2, then repeat a and b for (j1)-th iteration.

Fig. 44. The algorithm to determine the nal value of RS [102].
Then, outer loop is run as bellows:

a. k 1 min 1; 4 and xk y;
b. Update xk 1 xk k 1 Jxk 1 f xk ;
c. If convergence criterion f xk o is met, stop iteration and
xk xk 1 , otherwise, run k 1-th iteration.
This numerical model creates minimum number of nonlinear
equations and hence decreases computational burden. Different
kinds of programming language can be used to implement this
algorithm. This method is also useful for designing PV controllers
and analyzing the system performance. This method has been
validated through a PV array that emulates a real building integrated solar PV (BIPV) system using Matlab software. The results
indicate that the proposed method can manage dissimilarity (i.e.
dissimilar bypass diodes combination and shading) between the
PV modules. No divergence has been reported when damped
Newton method has been exploited.
An accurate and simple mathematical model of PV arrays has
been presented by Villalva et al. [24,98] which is very applicable
for power electronics designers. This model can be used for the
dynamic modeling purposes through any software platform. The
technical data available in PV datasheet have been utilized to nd
the parameters of PV array model. As illustrated in Fig. 41, this
method has been simulated through EFB method in order to
implement any arrangement of PV cells or modules in any circuitry
simulator.
The main points on IV curve (i.e. open-circuit, short-circuit,
and MPP) have been considered to be as the curve tting references and hence the only parameter estimated is the diode ideality
factor. This method has approximated the parameters of PV array
single-diode model. Firstly, the temperature and irradiation levels
have been taken as the inputs and then I 0 has been calculated. The
diode saturation current has been related to the temperature as:

I 0 I 0;n
Tn
T
3
exp

qEg 1 1

ak T n T
182
where Eg is the bandgap energy of the semiconductor

(Eg 1:2eV) for polycrystalline Si at 25 C and I 0;n is the nominal
saturation current given by:
I 0;n
I SC;n

exp V oc;n =aV t;n 1
183
where V t;n is thermal voltage of N S PV cells connected in series

at nominal temperature T n . In this work, I 0;n has been calculated
through the experiment by evaluating the single-diode model
equation at rated open-circuit conditions where the impact of
series resistance can be considered as low value so that:

I PV I SC;n
184
and thus the formulation of diode saturation current has been

improved as:
I0
I sc;n K I T

exp V oc;n K V T =aV t 1
185
where
K I and K V are the current and voltage coefcients, respectively.
The reason for this modication is to match the open-circuit voltages of the model with the experimental data over a broad range
of temperature. Since the saturation current highly depends on the
variation of temperature, (185) offers a different approach to
describe this dependency. The variation of V oc has been liberalized
by adding the term including K V coefcient. This equation makes it
easy to model the system and cancel the error at any regions of I
V curve.
To obtain Rs and Rp and hence adjust the IV curve, it has been
assumed that there is only one pair of (Rs , Rp ) at (V mp , I mp ). In this
case, the maximum power calculated through mathematical
model is equal to the maximum power obtained through the
experiment as:
P max;m P max;e V mp I mp
186
An iterative solver has been recommended to numerically solve

(185) for Rs as:

V mp Rs I mp
q V mp Rs I mp
P max;m V mp I pv I 0 exp
1
KT
aN s
Rp
187
P max;e
Thus, for any value of Rs there is a value of Rp that makes the
mathematical IV curve to cross the experimental (V mp , I mp ) point
so that:

V mp I mp Rs q
Rp V mp V mp I mp Rs = V mp I pv V mp I 0 exp
kT
Ns a

V mp I 0 P max;e
188
An iterative process has also been proposed in this paper
whose objective is to nd Rs and Rp where the mathematical and
experimental PV curves are overlapped together at their peak
point. In this procedure, to match the PV experimental and
mathematical curves together, Rs has to be increased gradually
starting from Rs 0 and then Rs and Rp are estimated accordingly
(see Fig. 42).
To plot IV and PV curves, single-diode equation has to be

solved numerically for I A 0; I sc;n and V A 0; V oc;n . There is no
direct solution for single-diode IV equation since it is a
transcendental function betweenIand V. The IV curve points can

be found by numerically solving (189) for a set of V and calculating
the equivalent I points (see Fig. 43).
g V; I I f V; I
Rp Rs
I sc;n
Rp
190
This equation considers the impacts of Rs and Rp to calculate

the light-generated current (I pv ). In this case, initial values for both
Rs and Rp are required before the iterative process is started. The
initial value for Rs has been considered to be zero and for Rp given
by:
Rp;min
V mp
V oc;n V mp

I sc;n I mp
I mp
V 0
I I sc;ref

I 0;ref =nT ref eIsc;ref Rs =nT ref 1=Rsh
1

Rsho
1 Rs I 0;ref =nT ref eIsc;ref Rs =nT ref 1=Rsh
195
189
For further improvement, in any iteration, Rs and Rp have been

updated toward the best solution which is:
I pv;n

dI
dV
191
To validate this approach, two real PV array models have been

derived and compared together mathematically and experimentally. The maximum power calculated through this technique has
been well-matched with the maximum power of the real array.
With parameters of adjusted IV equation, users can build a PV
circuit model with any circuit simulator by using basic function
blocks (EFB can be used together with this method). Data obtained
through this model has been compared to experimental data
which is available commercially. The results of this comparison
conrm that this method is able to accurately t the IV curve at
V oc at any temperature and irradiation levels.
Lo Brano et al. [99] proposed a new ve-parameter model
based on the single-diode model of solar PV cell. This method can
analytically describe the IV characteristic of a photovoltaic
module in terms of operating temperature and solar irradiance.
The model of solar PV cell proposed in this paper has been equated
as:

I G ; T G I L T I 0 G ; T eG V KIT T ref IRS =G nT 1

G V KI T T ref IRS
192

Rsh
where G is the ratio between actual solar radiation (G) and the
irradiance in STC (Gref ). K is thermal correction factor (in /C). I is
the current generated by the PV panel in ampere. I L is photocurrent (in A) given by:

I L T I L;ref I;sc T T ref
193
where I L;ref is the photocurrent at STC. At each temperature and
irradiance RS , Rsh , and n have been assumed to be constant values.
In STC, (192) is similar to the conventional ve-parameter equation since G 1 and T T ref .
To estimate the parameters of the model, Rsho and Rso should be
rstly determined. Rsho and Rso are the IV curve reciprocal of
slopes at STC that correspond to the short-circuit and open-circuit
points, respectively. In addition, there should be a prior knowledge
about the V oc;ref ; I sc;ref ; I mp;ref , and V mp;ref in order to obtain their
values at STC. Open-circuit voltage at standard temperature and at
minimum possible irradiance (usually 2 W/m2) and T T ref are
required to be specied as well. To nd K, the values of V mp and I mp
at 75 C and 1 kW/m2 have suggested to be used in this work.
According to this information which can be extracted from the
manufacturers datasheet, ve-parameter equation has been
evaluated in ve points i.e. short-circuit point, derivative at the
short-circuit point, open-circuit point, derivative at open-circuit
point, and maximum power point as:

I
sc;ref Rs
I sc;ref I L;ref I 0;ref eIsc;ref Rs =nT ref 1
194
Rsh
163

V
oc;ref
0 I L;ref I 0;ref eV oc;ref =nT ref 1
Rsh
196

I 0;ref =nT ref eV oc;ref =nT ref 1=Rsh
dI
1

dV V V oc;ref
Rso
1 Rs I 0;ref =nT ref eV oc;ref =nT ref 1=Rsh
I 0
197

V
mp;ref I mp;ref Rs
I mp;ref I L;ref I 0;ref eV mp;ref Imp;ref Rs =nT ref 1
Rsh
198
A trial and error approach has been utilized to solve these
equations and hence to extract PV cell equivalent circuit parameters. In this approach, there is no need to exploit any special
equation solver that starts searching based on tted initial parametric values. The algorithm includes two nested process in order
to estimate Rs and n. To initiate the algorithm, it has been
recommended to consider I L;ref I sc;ref and Rsh Rsho . Under a
broad range of operating conditions (195) and (196) can satisfy
I
eIsc;ref Rs =nT ref {R1sh .
Rs {Rsho and nT0;ref
ref
Once the abovementioned procedures are completed and some
rst values for Rs , and n are estimated, I 0;ref , I L;ref , and Rsh can be
obtained through (198), (194), and (195), respectively. Then,
through (196) ideality factor can be calculated and compared to
the rst trial value. If any change is required to achieve more
accurate IV curve, n is updated. After this stage, Rs is computed by
(197) and compared to the rst value of Rs . The second trial and
error procedure is run based on the rst stage results. Rs is
changed and the rst trial and error process is run again to nd the
new value of n and hence Rs is updated. This algorithm keeps on
until the results are converged. In this case, system of equations is
solved based on actual values (and not approximation) because
there has not been applied any simplication.
The system of equations has been coded into a simple software
routine (e.g. VBA macros in Microsoft Excel) in order to nd the
solution with the desirable accuracy. Since any changes in environmental conditions affect the output current of PV cell, estimating I PV is not a straightforward task. However, this method
makes it easy to estimate I PV where Rs , Rsh , and I 0 are supposed to
vary along with changes in solar irradiation as:
Rs G
Rs
Rsh G
Rsh
199
200
(199) and (200) can be used to rewrite the reverse saturation

current considering its dependency to solar radiation and temperature as:

I L T V oc G ; T =Rsh
I 0 G ; T G
201
eV oc;ref =nT ref 1
where

V oc G ; T V oc;ref G V;oc T T ref
202
and G is a constant value. Actual IV curves of silicon solar cell

(two types) have been compared to those curves obtained through
this approach and hence the results conrm the accuracy of this
model. This model has also been compared to the models proposed by other authors in [100,101] and better results have been
reported.
164
rearranging (204) as:

q V MP;REF I MP;REF RS V OC;REF

kT C;REF ln 1 I MP;REF =I SC;REF
206
By rearranging (204), I 0;REF is given by:

qV OC;REF
I 0;REF I SC;REF exp
kT C;REF
207
All the above mentioned parameters have been evaluated at

STC whose information is generally available in manufacturers
datasheet. For other conditions, to nd light generated (IL) and
saturation currents bellow equations can be updated and recalculated as:

G
IL
I L;REF ISC T C T C;REF
208
GREF

I 0 I 0;REF
Fig. 45. Current vs. voltage for the poly-crystalline cell type predicted by the veparameter model and King's model measured by NIST for four operating conditions
and STC [33].
Table 7
Maximum power values obtained for the single-crystalline cell type through NIST
measurements, the King, and ve-parameter models [33].
Solar [W/m2]
1000.0
882.6
696.0
465.7
189.8
Temperature [C]
25.0
39.5
47.0
32.2
36.5
Maximum power [W/m2]

NIST
King
Five-parameter [33]
133.4
109.5
80.1
62.7
23.8
133.4
111.4
82.0
61.1
22.5
133.4
110.6
82.4
61.0
22.3
I MP;REF I SC;REF I 0;REF
204
where I SC;REF , I 0;REF , and I MP;REF are the short-circuit, saturation,

and maximum power point currents at STC, respectively. V MP;REF is
the maximum power point voltage at STC. T C;REF is the PV cell
temperature at STC and is the shape factor given by:
A NCS NS
T C;REF
3

qG
1
I
exp

T C;REF T C
kA
209
where G is material bandgap energy. To nd series resistor (RS )

an iterative search method proposed by [103] has been exploited
in this paper. Bisection approach has been utilized to guess RS
through the analytical expression which can be derived for voc
using above motioned equations. Upper and lower limits of series
resistor have to be specied in bisection method. The lower limit
has been assumed to be 0.0 and the upper limit found through
physical constraints. The higher value of RS results in lower value
of and hence the lower value of shape factor determines the
upper limit of series resistance. The minimum value of completion
factor (A 1) returns the minimum value of and thus maximum
series resistance value has been given by:

1
kT C;REF NCS
I MP;REF
ln 1
Rs;max
V OC;REF V MP;REF
I MP;REF
q
I SC;REF
210
Chenni et al. [102] have dened a mathematical description for

PV cells through which a computer simulation model can be
developed to estimate four parameters. The remarkable points
that determine the parameters, under reference conditions, are
mainly: the short-circuit current (0,I SC;REF ), the open-circuit voltage point (0,V OC;REF ), the temperature coefcient of open-circuit
voltage voc , the temperature coefcient of short-circuit current
ISC and the maximum power point (IMP;REF ,V MP;REF ). The reverse
saturation current is considered to be a very small value and thus
the photocurrent is equal to short-circuit current. In this work,
only the exponential term in single-diode model equations
(extracted through three key points) has been considered because
this term is much greater that the term includes in 1. The
system of equations has been written as:

qV OC;REF
203
0 I SC;REF I 0;REF exp
kT C;REF

q V MP;REF I MP;REF RS V OC;REF
exp
k T C;REF
TC
205
where NCS is the number of cell connected in series in each PV

module and NS is the number of modules connected in series in
whole PV array. A is completion factor. can be calculated by
The maximum value of I L corresponds to lower limit of RS and

(202) has been used to recalculate saturation current. To formulate
the analytical expression for voc (202) has been rearranged to
obtain V OC;REF . By partial differentiating from this formula in terms
of cell reference temperature voc has been obtained through:

V
k
I SC;REF
T C;REF ISC
qG
ln
voc OC;REF
3
q
T C;REF
I 0;REF
I SC;REF
AkT C;REF
211
As shown in Fig. 44, the measured value of voc has been
compared to its analytical value and hence RS updated until the
empirical and analytical values closely match together.
The parameters of a single PV module have been approximated
in this stage. To extract the IV characteristic of whole PV array
(plant), the parameters should be scaled up based on the series
and parallel connections between the PV modules. In this paper, to
study the effect of cell temperature on the amount of generating
power, module temperature has been formulated as:
T module 3 C 0:943T ambient 0:028G 1:528V wind 4:3
212
Taking into account that the power partial derivative in terms

of voltage is zero at MPP, peak power parameters have been calculated through:

k T C;REF
I L I MP
V MP
ln
1 I MP RS
213
q
I0
I MP
h
i

RS
I MP I L I 0 ln IL I0IMP 1 kqI TMPC;REF
S
1 I L I MP I 0 kqR
T C;REF
214
Eq. (214) can be numerically solved for I MP by NewtonRaphson

solver and then V MP is calculated using (213).
Table 8
Comparison between solar PV cell/module/array modeling methods.
No. Author(s)
Ref No. Classes of modeling techniques

Circuitry based
Equation based
EFBs
PLC
Analytical Numerical
Nishioka et al.
[20]
N/A*
N/A
Tian et al.
[21]
N/A
N/A
N/A
3
4
5
Chowdhury et al.
Mahmoud et al.
Gow et al.
[22]
[23]
[26]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Gow et al.
[27]
N/A
N/A
N/A
Veerachary
[30]
N/A
N/A
N/A
8
9
Chouder et al.
Sera et al.
[31]
[34]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
10
Gil-Arias et al.
[35]
N/A
N/A
N/A
11
Weidong et al.
[36]
N/A
N/A
N/A
12
13
14
[37]
[38]
[39]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
15
Huan-Liang et al.
Huan-Liang
Yun-Feng and
Ying
Altas and Sharaf
[40]
N/A
N/A
N/A
16
Rahman et al.
[41]
N/A
N/A
N/A
17
Tossa et al.
[42]
N/A
N/A
N/A
18
Wang and Hsu
[43]
N/A
N/A
19
Campbell
[44]
N/A
N/A
N/A
20
21
Bishop
Quaschning and
Hanitsch
Kawamura et al.
Kaushika and
Gautam
[48]
[51]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
[52]
[53]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
22
23
Di Piazza et al.
[54]
N/A
N/A
25
Chan et al.
[55]
N/A
N/A
N/A
26
Ishaque et al.
[56]
N/A
N/A
N/A
Curve tting through modify- 3

ing the equivalent circuit
Equation solver (fsolve)
1
Number of
parameters
Complexity of
implementation
Computational
burden
Accuracy Implementation
platform
N/A
PSCAD/EMTDC
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
SABER
SPICE
PSPICE
SABER
PSIM
any simulator
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab
Empirical Equations
Nonlinear Solver
LevenbergMaquardt, NewtonRaphson
LevenbergMaquardt, NewtonRaphson
Taylor Expansion
2
1
2
6
3
5
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
NewtonRaphson
Any Numerical Solver (e.g.
NewtonRaphson)
Fixed point Theorem, Linear
regression
1
1
5
5
L
H
L
H
L
H
N/A
2nd order efciency model,

Simplication of Equations
Statistical Gaussian Function
Statistical Gaussian Function
Numerical Solver
SABER
PSPICE
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
1
1
1
3
3
4
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
PSCAD/EMTDC
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab/Simulink
Iterative trial and error, Mini- 1

mum Descriptor Length
(MDL) Curve Fitting
Software Tool (PVSim)
1
NewtonRaphson
2
5
7
H
H
H
H
H
H
1
1
5
4
H
H
H
H
H
H
GNG-based simulator
DSPACE
Numerical algorithm
and source codes
Matlab/Simulink
Simplied Empirical
Equations
Non-iterative solution
LevenbergMaquardt algorithm (LMA)
EFBs, Equal area criterion,
Piecewise Linear Circuit (PLC)
NewtonRaphson
Computational network
analysis
Junction Analysis
Growing Neural Gas (GNG)
Network, Least Square
Regression (LSR), Real-time
Simulator
Analytical 5-point, Curve tting, iterative 5-point, LSR
PSIM
Electromagnetic transient program (EMTP)
Matlab/Simulink
PSCAD/EMTDC
PVNet
Numerical algorithm
and source codes
N/A
Numerical algorithm
and source codes
165
24
Number of
Diodes
Supplementary method(s)
166
No. Author(s)

Circuitry based
Equation based
EFBs
PLC
Ishaque et al.
[57]
N/A
N/A
N/A
28
[58]
N/A
N/A
N/A
29
Ishaque and
Salam
Ishaque et al.
[59]
N/A
N/A
N/A
30
Saloux et al.
[60]
N/A
N/A
N/A
31
Sandrolini et al.
[61]
N/A
N/A
N/A
32
d'Alessandro et al. [62]
N/A
N/A
N/A
33
El Shahat
[63]
N/A
N/A
N/A
34
Ismail et al.
[64]
N/A
N/A
N/A
35
Elhagry et al.
[65]
N/A
N/A
N/A
36
Elshatter et al.
[66]
N/A
N/A
N/A
37
Patel et al.
[67]
N/A
N/A
N/A
38
Moldovan et al.
[69]
N/A
N/A
N/A
39
40
[74]
[76]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
41
Jain and Kapoor

Ding and
Radhakrishnan
Santakrus et al.
[77]
N/A
N/A
N/A
42
Singh et al.
[78]
N/A
N/A
N/A
43
Charles et al.
[81]
N/A
N/A
N/A
44
Phang et al.
[82]
N/A
N/A
N/A
45
46
47
Laudani et al.
Laudani et al.
Laudani et al.
[83]
[84]
[85]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
48
Laudani et al.
[86]
N/A
N/A
N/A
49
Lun et al.
[87]
N/A
N/A
N/A
Number of
Diodes
Number of
parameters
Complexity of
implementation
Computational
burden
platform
Dif-
Matlab/Simulink
Dif-
Dif-
Iterative Numerical Solver

NewtonRaphson
Numerical solver, Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO),
HCluster analysis
Experiments and
measurements
Articial neural network
(ANN), EFBs, Back Propagation
(BP)
EFBs, Genetic algorithm (GA),
NewtonRaphson
Fuzzy based regression, Linear
programming (LP)
Fuzzy based regression, Linear
programming (LP)
Teaching learning based optimization (TLBO)
Lambert W Function, Genetic
Algorithm (GA), Numerical
Iterative Solver
Lambert W Function
Lambert W Function,
Optimization
Special transfer function theory (STFT)
NewtonRaphson
Special transfer function theory (STFT)
Programmable Calculator
NewtonRaphson
NewtonRaphson
Programming and
source codes
Matlab/Simulink
PSIM
PSCAD/EMTDC
PSPICE
Programming and
source codes
LabView
PSPICE
Matlab
1 and 2
5 and 7
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab
Matlab
LabView
Programming and
source codes
1
1
5
5
H
H
H
H
H
H
N/A
Matlab
Programming and
source codes
Maple enviroment
fsolve, Lambert W-function

Convex optimization
General analysis of [83] and
[84]
Hybrid neural network
1
1
1
5
5
5
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
Programming and
source codes
Programming and
source codes
Matlab
Matlab
Matlab
EFBs, NewtonRaphson,
ferential Evolution (DE)
Dif-
Matlab
Mathematica
Maple
Mathcad
Matlab/Simulink
27
Chikh et al.
[88]
N/A
N/A
N/A
51
Khanna et al.
[89]
N/A
N/A
N/A
52
Dizqah et al.
[90]
N/A
N/A
N/A
53
Oliva et al.
[91]
N/A
N/A
N/A
54
Fathy
[92]
N/A
N/A
N/A
55
Chan and Phang
[94]
N/A
N/A
N/A
56
Chatterjee et al.
[95]
N/A
N/A
N/A
57
58
Liu et al.
Liu and Nguang
[96]
[97]
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
59
Villalva et al.
[24]
N/A
N/A
N/A
60
Villalva et al.
[98]
N/A
N/A
N/A
61
Lo Brano et al.
[99]
N/A
N/A
N/A
62
de Blas et al.
[100]
N/A
N/A
N/A
63
Hadji Arab et al.
[101]
N/A
N/A
N/A
64
Chenni et al.
[102]
N/A
N/A
N/A
65
De Soto
[32]
N/A
N/A
N/A
66
De Soto et al.
[33]
N/A
N/A
N/A
67
Ma et al.
[109]
N/A
N/A
N/A
68
Ma et al.
[110]
N/A
N/A
N/A
69
Lun et al.
[111]
N/A
N/A
N/A
70
Ghani et al.
[112]
N/A
N/A
N/A
71
Ghani et al.
[113]
N/A
N/A
N/A
72
Ghani et al.
[114]
N/A
N/A
N/A
73
Hejri et al.
[115]
N/A
N/A
N/A
Programming and
source codes
Matlab
Matlab
1 and 2
5 and 7
Programming and
source codes
Matlab/Simulink
GaussSidel, Modied Gauss 1

Sidel (SUR)
Damped Newton method
1
Damped Newton method
1
5
5
H
H
H
H
H
H
N/A
N/A
Matlab
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab
Matlab or similar
environment
Matlab or similar
environmen
Matlab, Maple,
Mathematica
Programming and computer simulation
EFB, Iterative Numerical

Solver
EFB, Iterative Numerical
Solver
Trial & Error Approach (Two
Nested Loop Algorithm)
Matlab
Programming and
source codes e.g. in
Matlab
PSPICE OR any circuit
simulator
Matlab/Simulink
PSIM
Visual Basic Macro In
Excel
Matlab
Mathematica
Programming and
source codes
Numerical algorithm
and source codes
Programming and computer simulation
167
LevenbergMaquardt (LM) or
any iterative numerical slover
Analytical 5-point, Curve tting, iterative 5-point, LSR
Iterative Search Method
(Bisection Approach)
NewtonRaphson
Engineering Equation Solver
(EES)
Engineering Equation Solver
(EES)
LevenbergMaquardt (LM)
and GaussNewton
algorithms
LevenbergMaquardt (LM)
and GaussNewton
algorithms
Lambert W-function
(EDDMMLW)
Lambert W-function
NewtonRaphson
Lambert W-function
NewtonRaphson
Lambert W-function
NewtonRaphson
Numerical analysis
NewtonRaphson
LevenbergMarquardt
optimization
Programming and
source codes
Matlab
50
Time Warp Invariant Eco State

Network (TWIESN)
Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS)
Least-square regression
optimization
Particle Swarm Optimization
(PSO)
Genetic Algorithm (GA)
Interior Point Method (IPM)
Articial Bee Colony (ABC)
Optimization Algorithm
Modied Articial Bee Colony
(MABC) Optimization
Algorithm
Quadratic or Cubic Solutions
Matlab/Simulink
Matlab, Mathematica
H
H
Matlab
H
H
H
h V IRs
i V IR
s
I IL I0 e a 1
Rsh
215
Number of
parameters
where a is modied ideality factor given by:

N s nI kT c
q
216
5
5
2
1
and nI is the ideality factor. Eq. (215) at three key points (shortcircuit point, open-circuit point, and MPP) has been evaluated as:
Isc;ref Rs;ref

I sc;ref Rs;ref
217
I sc U ref I L;ref I 0;ref e aref 1
Rsh
V oc;ref

V oc;ref
0 I L;ref I 0;ref e aref 1
Rsh
218
V mp;ref Imp;ref Rs;ref

V mp;ref I mp;ref Rs;ref
aref
1
I mp U ref I L;ref I 0;ref e
Rsh
219
The derivative of power in terms of voltage at MPP is zero and

thus the fourth equation has been derived so that:

dIV
dI
I mp V mp jmp 0
220
dV mp
dV
where
V
I
R

I 0 mp a mp s
R1sh
dI
a e
I
dV mp 1 I0 Rs e mp a mp Rs Rs
N/A
N/A
N/A
Lambert W-function
Numerical method
NewtonRaphson
NewtonRaphson Runge
Kutta Merson
Iterative matching algorithm
Algebraic equations and error
minimization algorithm
N/A
Equation based
Number of
Diodes
221
Rsh
Not applicable.
To extract the fth equation, the open-circuit temperature

coefcient has been formulated as:

V OC;ref V OC;T c
V
V OC

222
T I 0
T ref T c
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
[118]
[119]
76
77
Babu and Gurjar

Lineykin et al.
N/A
N/A
[117]
75
Elbaset et al.
N/A
N/A
[116]
74
Peng et al.
PLC
EFBs
Circuitry based

No. Author(s)
Three types of solar panel (m-Si, C-Si, and CIS), made by famous
manufacturers, have been examined to validate this method. The
real information in manufacturers datasheet, for these PV panels,
has been compared to those obtained through the simulation. For
the CIS thin lm, the average relative error on peak-power voltage
has been 0.67% and the average relative error on peak power has
been 0.19%. In the case of Mono-crystalline solar module, the
average relative error has been less than the former type for both
peak-power voltage and peak power about 0.32% and 0.03%,
respectively. These values for Multi-crystalline silicon have been
0.22% on peak-power voltage and 0.134% on peak power. The
results conrm that this method is adequately accurate because it
declines the computational burden associated with the nonlinear
equations and analytical methods.
De Soto et al. [33] introduced a PV cell model in order to estimate the IV curve. This model relies on ve-parameters, cell
temperature, solar irradiation, and semi-experimental equations.
The ve-parameter model is quite user-friendly since it only needs
limited data as inputs and thus provides a valuable tool for energy
forecasting. The ve-parameter characteristic equation of PV cell
single-diode model used in this work written as:
H
H
Matlab/Simulink
H
H
H
Complexity of
implementation
platform
Computational
burden
168
This equation has to be evaluated numerically and hence V OC;T c

has to be known at some cell temperatures close to the reference
temperature. The temperature dependency of ve parameters has
been included in this model as well. Since there is a prior
knowledge about the ve parameters values in reference condition
(STC), the parametric values at any operating temperature have
been calculated through:
a
Tc
aref T c;ref
223
and similar to (208) new saturation current given by [104]:

"

!#

Eq
I0
Tc 3
1 Eg
exp

224
k T T ref T T c
I 0;ref
T c;ref
where Eg;T ref 1:121 eV for silicon cells and Eg;T ref 1:6 eV for
triple junction amorphous cell and hence the value of band gap
energy at any given cell temperature has been calculated by:

Eg;T c
1 0:0002677 T c T c;ref
Eg;T ref
225
The photocurrent depends on both operating temperature and

solar irradiance and this parameter at any operating condition has
been yield through:
IL

S
M
U
I
Isc T c T c;ref
Sref M ref L;ref
226
where Isc is temperature coefcient of short-circuit current

and M is air mass modier which is a function of local zenith angle
(Z ) given by:
4
X
M
ai AM i
M ref
0
227
consider that AM is the air mass [105] estimated by:

AM
1

1:634
cos Z 0:5057 96:080 Z
228
The values of a0 to a4 are xed for different kinds of PV

material. For further information [32,33] can be referred. S is
absorbed solar irradiation at a certain operating condition
obtained through:

1 cos
1 cos
S
G
G
G
b Rbeam K ;b d K ;d
K ;g
2
2
Sref Gref
Gref
Gref
229
where Gref is solar radiation level at STC (1000 W=m2 ), Gb is
the solar irradiation received from the sun provided that it is not
scattered by the atmosphere, and Gd is diffuse irradiation which
has been calculated by:
Gb G Gd
230
is the slope of PV panel, is ground reectance. K ;b is the

incident angle modier at the beam incidence angle, K ;d and
K ;g are the incident angle modier at effective angles of incidence. For further information about these denitions and their
values, [32,33] can be referred. In this paper, series resistance has
been assumed to be constant at its reference value (Rs;ref ) and the
shunt resistance given by:
Sref
Rsh
Rsh;ref
S
231
To solve the system of (224) (through 227), an Engineering

Equation Solver (EES) has been exploited proposed by [106]. To
obtain maximum power point current (I mp ) and voltage (V mp ), the
parameters calculated in above can be utilized to solve bellow
equations simultaneously [107] as:

2
3
V mp I mp Rs
I0
R1sh
I mp 4 a exp
a

5
232
V I R
V mp
1 Rs I0 Rs exp mp mp s
Rsh

V mp I mp Rs
V mp I mp Rs
1
I mp I L I 0 exp
a
Rsh
233
Using the suggested model in [33], a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) facility has been evaluated at the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) for four PV cell technologies
i.e. single crystalline, polycrystalline, silicon thin lm, and triple-
169
junction amorphous (see Fig. 45). To predict the IV curve, the

results acquired through Sandia model [47] have been compared
to the results obtained through the method presented in this
paper (see Table 7). The estimated IV curve through the veparameter model complies with both the NIST measurements
[108] and Sandia model for all aforementioned PV cell types over a
broad range of operating conditions.
Ma et al. [109] have presented a method based on Levenberg
Maquardt (LM) and GaussNewton algorithms. Five equations
have been derived at open-circuit condition, short-circuit condition, MPP, and dI=dV at I sc as well as V oc . Voltage Temperature
coefcient has been substituted in (234) to derive another equation.

qV IRs
V IRs
I I ph I o exp
234
1
akTNs
Rp
Five parameters have been estimated through LMA. Gauss
Newton algorithm has been exploited along with LMA in order to
achieve a rapid convergence in estimating the parameters. The
similar approach has been used in [110] for the purpose of performance prediction.
Lun et al. [111] proposed an explicit double-diode modeling
method Lambert W-function (EDDMMLW) for solar cells and
photovoltaic (PV) arrays. In this model, the bypass diode is included as well. Lambert W-function has been used to derive explicit
equations of IV curve for solar cell/array double-diode model. In
this approach, the seven cell parameters of double-diode model
have been estimated through the system of equations derived at
four points on IV curve (i.e. voltage and current at maximum
power point, open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current). Real
PV modules have been utilized to verify the effectiveness of this
modeling technique for operating conditions. Results indicate that
the method is precise and fast at any conditions.
Ghani et al. [112,113] have presented a technique to obtain Rs
and Rp through Lambert W-function as well as NewtonRaphson
method. In another work [114], they have also considered temperature effects on single-diode model.
Hejri et al. [115] have derived a set of analytical solutions for
the extraction of double-diode model parameters based on information which is available in manufacturer datasheet. In this
model, diode ideality factors have been assumed to be constant
values and hence the seven parameters of double-diode model
deducted to ve. Three key points i.e. open-circuit, short-circuit,
and MPP have been considered to evaluate the current voltage
equation. The derivative of power in terms of voltage (which is
equal to zero) has been used to derive the fourth equation. To
derive the fth equation, the slope of IV curve has been evaluated
at short-circuit point and Rsh assumed to be equal to Rsho . After
simplifying the equations, a set of approximate analytical solutions
has been derived. These solutions have been solved to estimate
initial points for the numerical analysis of original system of
equations. NewtonRaphson method has been exploited to solve
the original system. This method has been validated by comparing
the IV curves obtained through theoretical and experimental
results. The results conrm that the IV curves approximated
through this method are sufciently accurate.
Peng et al. [116] have presented an iterative method to extract
the PV cell single-diode parameters. In this case, three state points
have been evaluated at STC (open-circuit, short-circuit, and MPP)
to obtain the parameters. Lambert W-function has been exploited
to derive explicit relations and hence to improve the PV cell
model. The proposed iterative algorithm has addressed the deciencies (i.e. initial guess and divergence) in numerical methods
(e.g. NewtonRaphson method).
In [117], double-diode model of PV module with sevenparameter has been utilized to obtain IV characteristics at any
170
operating conditions. Seven-parameter have been estimated using

the NewtonRaphson method. The initial values have been
derived from the basic equations and datasheet at STC. Newton
Raphson and RungeKutta Merson techniques have been exploited
to validate the model ability to t non-linear output characteristics
of IV and PV. This modeling approach has been tested on three
different PV modules i.e. multi-crystalline, amorphous, and thin
lm. The curves obtained through this method closely match with
those are available in datasheets.
Babu and Gurjar [118] proposed a simplied double-diode
model of a photovoltaic (PV) module. The proposed model consists of two ideal diodes and a photocurrent source. The series and
shunt resistances have been neglected to decline computational
burden. Only four parameters have to be estimated through the
information provided in manufactures datasheet. The photocurrent has been calculated as:

G
I pv I sc K I T
GSTC
235
where I sc is the short-circuit current under STC and G is the

irradiation level. GSTC is the irradiation level at STC. K I is the shortcircuit constant which is available in datasheet. T is the temperature difference between the module temperature and temperature in STC.
The reverse saturation currents for the rst and second diodes
have been estimated, respectively, as:

I sc K I T

236
I 01
exp V oc K v T q=N s KTA1 1
I 02
!
2
T5
I 01
3:77
step. In this case, the diode ideality factor has been used as the
tting parameter. In the fourth step, to obtain the band gap energy
and temperature coefcient of the photo-generating current, two
additional equations has been derived using thermal coefcients of
open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current. By dening an
independent parameter (i.e. ideality factor), the system of equations
can be solved by numerical technique. In this method, to extract the
required parameters, minimal set of experimental data is required.
Several PV panels from different manufacturers have been analyzed
to verify the accuracy of this approach and the results indicate a
satisfactory level of precision.
3. Comparison between the methods

Solar PV cell/module/array modeling techniques are compared
together as mentioned in Table 8. The PV cell/module/array
equivalent circuit and its number of parameters are also presented
for each modeling approach. The supplementary techniques
exploited to obtain these parameters are pointed out as well. The
classes of modeling techniques are divided into two groups i.e. low
(L) and high (H) in terms of complexity of implementation, computational burden, and accuracy. The implementation platform
associated with each modeling technique is presented as well.
Circuitry based methods are easier to be implemented in circuit
simulators but less accurate than equation based methods. Since
iterative and/or optimization algorithms have to be exploited in
equation based methods, the computational burden of this class is
more than the circuitry based methods.
237
where K v is the voltage temperature constant provided in

datasheet. Ns is the number of PV cells in series A1 is the rst diode
ideality factor.
An iterative matching algorithm has been proposed to obtain
diode ideality factors. In this algorithm the rst diode ideality
factor has been increased gradually to nd the second diode ideality factor. Then, for the boundary between zero and open-circuit
voltage the maximum power has been calculated using the ideality factors calculated in the previous stage. Using the maximum
voltage value which is available in the datasheet, the maximum
current has been calculated. The error between the calculated
maximum current and the actual maximum current has been
considered as the convergence criterion. The rst diode ideality
factor has been increased until this error reaches to an acceptable
tolerance value. The simulation results that are obtained by
Matlab/Simulink have been compared to experimental data of
different PV module technologies such as multicrystalline and
monocrystalline. The results show that this model is simple and
accurate for the purpose of PV plants design and simulation.
Lineykin et al. [119] estimated parameters of PV cell single-diode
model based on both technical information provided in manufactures datasheet and user-obtained experimental IV curve. The
derived model allows predicting the solar cell/panel output at any
conditions. This method exploits both algebraic equations and
optimization algorithm to nd the parameters. Estimating the
parameters has been completed in four steps. In the rst step, IV
characteristic equations have been obtained for ve-parameter
model. In the second step, STC conditions have been substituted
in equation derived in the previous step and hence four algebraic
equations are created in this stage. Another equation is required to
nd the ve parameters. Hence, the fth parameter has been
determined by minimization of the difference between the corresponding sets of modeled and experimental IV curves in the third
4. Conclusion
This paper presents a comprehensive review on mathematical
modeling methods of photovoltaic (PV) solar cell/module/array. A
new classication on these modeling techniques is presented in
this article. These approaches are classied in two main groups,
namely, circuitry based techniques and equation based methods.
Each group has two sub-classes. The rst class of modeling
methods is divided into embedded function blocks (EFBs) and
piecewise linear (PLC) approaches. The second class is also categorized to analytical and numerical methods. The modeling techniques are compared together in terms of supplementary methods, equivalent circuit, complexity, computational burden, accuracy, and implementation platform. Second class can be used to
obtain the PV module parameters for the rst class. In this case,
analytical and numerical approaches can be utilized together with
EFBs method. The latter class needs more computational burden
but the former class is faster and easy to implement in circuit
simulators. It is expected that this review can be used as a reference for power system dynamic modeling purpose.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by High Impact Research Secretariat (HIR) at University of Malaya through the Campus Network
Smart Grid System for Energy Security project (Project no. H16001-00-D000032 and Grant no. UM.C/HIR/MOHE/ENG/32).
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Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Photovoltaic electricity generator dynamic modeling methods

Corresponding author. Tel.: 60 322463246; fax: 60 322463257.

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Current temperature coefcient

Avalanche breakdown exponent

Solar irradiance (W/m2)

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

2. Photovoltaic system modeling methods

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

PV cell equivalent circuits and parameters

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

I01: Saturation current due to diffusion mechanism.

leakage current through peripheries is not negligible and hence it

purpose. In this case, the PV system model can be accurately

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Fig. 2. Modied equivalent circuit for a solar cell [21].

Parameters of a single-diode solar cell model i.e. ideality factor,

characteristic. If there are NM PV modules connected in series and

As shown in Fig. 3, the total PV array current, which includes in

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

where NOCT is the nominal operating cell temperature in (1C)

Input coefcient/parameters Value

Fig. 3. A PV array conguration [21].

V mp;ref I mp;ref NNPS RS;ref

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

The derivative of power with respect to voltage is equal to zero

q V mp;ref I mp;ref N S RS;ref

q V mp;ref I mp;ref N S RS;ref

Fig. 5. Schematic dynamic model of PVM including internal capacitance C x [35].

where the values of K 0 through K 12 together with E and T is

where V V th and I 0 for Thevenin's voltage (V th ). V 0 and

The simulation results conrm that this model of polycrystalline

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Fig. 6. The implemented model if SABER through EFBs [35].

where I rs is reverse saturation current at STC. Another

Fig. 8. (a) Short-circuit condition equivalent circuit. (b) Open-circuit condition

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Set initial parameters

Input the data of a specific photovoltaic module

Calculate the parameters per solar cell

Input the levels of irradiance and temprature

Calculate the photo current Iph

Set initial value of A

Compute the value of dI/dV at the point (Vmpp, Impp)

Error = |dI/ dV + Impp/ Vmpp|

Output the determined values of A and Rs

Along with the numerical solution of double-diode equation,

Fig. 10. Photovoltaic module model implemented in Matlab/Simulink [36].

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Fig. 12. Block diagram of the PV model implemented in Matlab/Simulink [39].

number of modules in series and parallel (s and p respectively),

where is maximum error and it has been chosen to be 10 7

S. Koohi-Kamal et al. / Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 57 (2016) 131172

Fig. 14. DC circuit to obtain diode ideality factor [41].

In this paper, the impacts of solar radiation, wind speed, and

where T b is the temperature of PVM back surface in 1C. T a is the

where T is the instantaneous temperature of the PV cells in 1C.

where Ga and T symbolize the irradiation and temperature,

Diode current can be calculated using Shockley equation given

Mathematical model is given as a continuous surface in the

A relation between temperature and irradiance is derived by a

Thermal constant of the PV eld has been introduced through a

Experimental prototype of higher rating has been designed and

To control the converter, a sophisticated model of controller in

there is no precise advance knowledge about the PV model