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Solar Energy Vol. 55, No. 6, pp.

463-468, 1995
Pergamon Copyright 0 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
0038-092X (95) 00063-l Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved
0038-092X/95 $9.50+0.00

OUTPUT VARIATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES WITH


ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS-I. THE EFFECT OF SPECTRAL
SOLAR RADIATION ON PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE OUTPUT
YOUICHI HIRATA and TATSUO TAN17
Department of Electrical Engineering, Science University of Tokyo, l-3 Kagurazaka, Sinjukuku,
Tokyo 162, Japan
(Communicated by GERARD WRIXON)

Abstract-In this study, it was investigated how changes in spectral solar radiation effects the output of
photovoltaic modules. First, there was a precise examination of the seasonal changes in spectral solar
radiation. Consequently, it was found that the ratio of spectral solar radiation available for solar cell
utilization, to global solar radiation, changes from season to season. It varied, from 5% for polycrystalline
silicon cells, to 14% for amorphous silicon cells, throughout one year. Obviously a cell made from
amorphous silicon is more severely effected by seasonal variations.
Next, the seasonal changes of photovoltaic module output were examined. The output was calculated
by the conventional output evaluation method using irradiance and cell temperature. This calculated
value and the subsequently measured value were accumulated and the two values compared. As a result,
the accumulated output of photovoltaic modules was confirmed as changing seasonally in the same way
as spectral solar radiation. The output ratio of polycrystalline silicon was found to change by 4%, while
that of amorphous silicon varied by 20%. Hence the seasonal variations in spectral solar radiation should
be taken into account for optimum photovoltaic power system design.

1. INTRODUCTION 35.5“ to the horizontal and faces due south. The


equipment has been installed on the roof of our
For the optimum design of photovoltaic (PV)
Kagurazaka campus since December 1988. The
power systems, it is very important to be able
apparatus used is listed below:
to estimate their annual accumulated output.
?? PV modules of polycrystalline and amor-
Generally, annual maximum accumulated
phous silicon
output is calculated using PV module efficiency
under reference sunlight of irradiance 1 kW/m2 ?? Thermocouples
with a solar cell temperature of 25°C. Since the ?? Pyranometer (EKO instruments)
spectral distribution of solar radiation changes ?? Spectroradiometer (EKO instruments).
with weather, season and time of day, the effi- Figure 1 indicates the PV module data collection
ciency of solar cells is not always constant. system, and Fig. 2 shows the measurement appa-
Hirata and Tani (1993, 1994) developed a ratus and PV modules used during the research.
method to calculate the output of PV modules Table 1 shows the rating of PV modules using
with allowance for the effects of spectral solar the area and conversion efficiency of polycrystal-
radiation variation. line silicon as a unit. Figure 3 indicates the
In this study, it was investigated how spectral spectral response of PV modules. The values
solar radiation effects the output of PV modules. shown in Table 1 were obtained in July 1990
First, spectral solar radiation changes and PV and those shown in Fig. 3, in December 1988.
module output were measured carefully and They were measured with a solar simulator,
examined in detail. Next, the output of the PV using long pulses, and reference cells. The equip-
modules was accumulated each month for a ment used was owned by the Japan Quality
12 month period, from January to December. Assurance Organization (JQA).
The results confirmed the fact that seasonal
variations in spectral solar radiation have a 2.2. Measurement system
subsequent effect on PV module output.
A computer controlled 1-I’ curve tracer
(EKO instruments) samples and records data
2. MEASUREMENT APPARATUS
2.1. Measurement apparatus every 5 min. These are averaged over a 30 min
period. The data collected are global irradiance
The PV modules and other measuring appa-
on an inclined surface E (kW/m’), solar cell
ratus were situated on a slope that is inclined
temperature t (“C), short circuit current, open
tISES member. circuit voltage, maximum output power P,,,

463
464 Y. Hirata and T. Tani

Pyranometer

Spectral irradiance

Spectroradiometer
I PV I Cell temperature

on the back side


Persona I
Rs-232c computer
Epson
+ PC-286VE

PI
( Characteristic data
c
i of IV curve
35.5” from horizontal, due south
Fig 1. PV module data collection system. The PV modules and other measuring apparatus were situated
on a slope that is inclined 35.5” to the horizontal and faces due south.

Fig. 2. PC modules and measurement apparatus: polycrystalline and amorphous silicon, thermocouples,
pyranometer and spectroradiometer. the equipment has been installed on the roof of our Kagurazaka
campus since December 1988.

Table 1. Rating of PV modules obtained in July 1990. The area and conversion efficiency of polycrystalline silicon are used
as a unit for comparison

PV modules Maximum output Area Conversion efficiency


P,“,(W) A tl

Polycrystalline silicon 51.9 1.00 1.00


Amorphous silicon 21.0 0.91 0.40

Irradiance 1.0 kW/m’, air mass 1.5, cell temperature 25°C.


Output variation 465

200 400 600 800 1000 1200


Fig. 3. Spectral response of PV modules, measured in Wavelength 1 [nm]
December 1988.
Fig. 4. Example of spectroradiometer measurement taken
between 10.00 and 10.30 a.m. on 11 May 1993.
Table 2. Wavelength bands of spectroradiometer (EKO
instruments) to measure spectral irradiance. The spectro-
radiometer consists of a pyranometer and six kinds of filters. many years of use, and six kinds of filters. The
Each filter defines, quite accurately, its designated band purpose of this apparatus was to measure
allowing only the transmission of those frequencies to be spectral irradiance in each wavelength band
measured
as Table 2 indicates. Each filter defines, quite
Channel Wavelength band (nm) accurately its designated band, allowing only
the transmission of those frequencies to be
1 305-395
2 395-495 measured. Figure 4 shows an example of
3 4955590 spectroradiometer measurement taken between
4 590-695 10.00 and 10.30 a.m. on 11 May 1993. It
5 6955850
6 85OG2800 indicates an irradiance of 893 W/m’ over the
wavelength range of 300-1200 nanometers.
Wavelengths outside that range have been
(W), fill factor and conversion efficiency q. ignored.
Simultaneously, further data, described below, An I-V curve tracer is used to measure the
are collected by a data logger, sampled every changes in voltage and output current when
10 s, and recorded after averaging over 30 min. natural or artificial light is applied to a PV
The data are global irradiance on an inclined module. Figure 5 shows an example of output
surface E (kW/m2) and spectral irradiance E, from the I-l/curve tracer sampling data from a
(n = l-6) (kW/m2), where E, is the irradiance polycrystalline silicon PV module.
for each of the six wavelength bands as shown
in Table 2. These data were measured from 4.00
3. SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION OF SOLAR
a.m. to 7.30 p.m. each day continuously for 1 yr
RADIATION
from January to December.
The PV modules used in the research have In this section, the seasonal changes in
not been washed or cleaned, since the purpose spectral solar radiation and its subsequent effect
was to evaluate the actual results under condi- on solar cells was examined by investigating the
tions of real urban utilization. The glass dome data gathered for the entire year of 1993.
of the pyranometer was washed however, to
ensure the accurate measurement of irradiance. 3.1. Available spectrum
The actual measured solar radiation as Spectral distribution of solar radiation varies
applied to this study was 1190 kWh/m2 x year. with atmospheric condition and solar location
The inclined global radiation (the inclined angle which are, in turn, effected by season, weather
is 30”) of Tokyo, as supplied as standard meteor- and time of day. Besides this, different kinds of
ological data, is 1310 kWh/m2 -year. This infor- solar cells exhibit different spectral responses.
mation is published by the Solar Energy Polycrystalline silicon responds in the range of
Utilization Handbook Committee (1985). The 305-1200 nm, while for amorphous silicon, the
difference is due to the obstruction of building range is much less, 305-820 nm. Solar cells do
shadows and data lost due to power failure. not respond at all to wavelengths outside
305-1200 nm. Although the same radiation is
2.3. Spectroradiometer and I-T/curve tracer received by both kinds of cell, their output
The spectroradiometer consists of a pyrano- varies with the spectral distribution of solar
meter, whose reliability has been proven over radiation. Since amorphous silicon responds to
466 Y. Hirata and T. Tani

<< I - U 8, P - U Curve >>


I [Al MEAS - PIWI
3.0, I I I I 150
< poly-si
- 93/05/11 10:15:;1 -
2.4_ _ 40
MEAS
Irr. IkW/m21: 0.894
Temp. I’C 1 : 36.000
30 Iso IQ1 : 2.616
Uoc ru1 : 24.120
Iv IFI1 : -99.999
-20 Ui IUI : 21.360
IpmaxIQl : 2.423
UpmaxI U I : 19.020
/
- 10 Pmax [WI : 46.090
FF r-1 : 0.730
eff. [ %1 : 9.473
0
0 6 12 18 24 30
uolt. IUI
1 < B:C930511.001 > - 10:15:11 - ( 76,’181 ) 1
Fig. 5. Example of output from the I-V curve tracer sampling data from a polycrystalline silicon
PV module.

a much narrower range of wavelengths, varia- (lb) were obtained as is described below.
tions in spectral radiation would be expected to Spectral response range of solar cells begins
have a much greater effect on the output from from channel 1 (for brevity, channel is denoted
this material. Hence to examine output charac- as CH) to the middle of CH6 for polycrystalline
teristics accurately, not only quantity, but also silicon and from CHl to the middle of CH5 for
“quality” of radiation needs to be considered. amorphous silicon. Accordingly, the ratios
The concept of “available spectrum” is accounting for available spectrum of CH6 for
applied to study this “quality” of solar radiation. polycrystalline silicon and of CH5 for amor-
Available spectrum is the spectral solar radia- phous silicon, based on reference sunlight, were
tion being received in the range of spectral calculated and their values were fixed as the
response. Available spectral ratio is the ratio of coefficients of E, and E,.
available spectrum to global solar radiation. Available spectral ratio is calculated from the
Figure 6 illustrates this comparison. ratio of E, to E. Available spectral ratio in each
Available spectra Ei (kW/m’) for each solar month R, is given by:
cell are given by eqns (la) and (lb).
Polycrystalline silicon: R,= lrn E,dr,lm Edt (2)

E,= 2 E,+0.561-E, (la) where r, is the total irradiation time for each
?I=1
month (h).
Amorphous silicon:
4 3.2. Available spectral ratio in each month
EL= 2 E,+0.849-E,. (lb) Here, the available spectral ratio in each
II=1
month was obtained from eqn (2). Figure 7
The coefficients of E, in eqn (la) and E, in eqn shows the results. As shown in Fig. 7, available

lobal Solar Radiation

!-! 1
a ctral Response
r/l Polycrystalline $5.
a
5
I,, I, % I,, ,I.

8 0 Jan. Mar. Ma-y Jul. Sep. Nov.


:: 0 1 2 3 Month
Wavelength &ml
Fig. 7. Available spectral ratio in each month for the entire
Fig. 6. Available spectrum: the spectral solar radiation being year of 1993: the ratio of available spectrum to global solar
received in the range of spectral response. radiation.
Output variation 467

spectral ratio changed by 5% for polycrystalline and the summer radiation level appears to
silicon and 14% for amorphous silicon through match the spectral response of amorphous sili-
1 yr. Hence amorphous silicon is more severely con, which has its peak around 550 nm as shown
effected by spectral solar radiation changes. in Fig. 3.

3.3. Spectral change rate


In this section, to analyze the seasonal change 4. SEASONAL VARIATION OF
of spectral solar radiation more precisely, ACCUMULATED OUTPUT
spectral change rate was used. Spectral change 4.1. Conventional method
rate is the rate of spectral ratio in each month I have named the method to calculate output
to spectral ratio in a year. It can provide using irradiance and cell temperature, the con-
information about the seasonal changes in ventional method, for convenience. This study
each wavelength band. Spectral change rate C, has taken into account the reduced output due
(n = 1- 6) is calculated by: to the accumulation of dirt. Equations (4a) and
(4b) demonstrate the procedure.
R,= j: E, dt/lm E, dt (3a)
P,,=E.A.rj.D (44
=Y IY
R,= E, dtl E, dt (3b)
s0 s0 P max=P,,*[l+cr(t-25)] (W
G=WR, (34 where P,, is the maximum output, at a cell
where R, is the spectral ratio in each month, temperature of 25°C (W), A is the area of PV
R, is the spectral ratio in a year, C, is the modules (m’), D is a constant which makes
spectral change rate of wavelengths of channel allowance for the decreased efficiency due to
n (See Table 2 for channel numbers and corre- dirt accumulation: 0.94 for polycrystalline and
sponding wavelengths), zYis the total irradiation 0.93 for amorphous silicon; (values investigated
time for 1 yr (h). by Kohri et al., 1993), CI is the temperature
Figure 8 shows the seasonal change of coefficient of maximum output; -0.5%/C for
spectral change rate in each wavelength band. polycrystalline silicon and -0.2%/C for amor-
The spectral change rate in each wavelength phous silicon: [these values appear in the
band varied from season to season. CH3 research material of Tsuji (1983) and Kuwano
(495 - 590 nm) was at its maximum in summer, and Takeoka ( 1990)].

" 1.2
Z

a 1.1
0
3
e 1.0

3t; 0.9
&
v, 0.8

Fig. 8. Sectral change rate in each wavelength band from season to season. Spectral change rate is the
rate of spectral ratio in each month to spectral ratio in a year.
468 Y. Hirata and T. Tani

1 05 polycrystalline silicon and 14% for amor-


2 .
,a phous silicon, indicating that the latter is
d
much more seriously effected.
-Z 1. oo- (ii) When the conventionally calculated value
I Conventional Method
Ij and measured value were compared, it was
6
:: confirmed that the accumulated values
-0.95 j ’ - changes seasonally in the same way as
Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov.
Month spectral solar radiation. The output ratio of
(a) Polycrystalline silicon
amorphous silicon changed by a staggering
20% while that of polycrystalline silicon was
2 a more modest 4%, a change in keeping
,a 1. 1 with the variation in spectral solar radiation.
2
Hence the seasonal changes in spectral solar
P
% 1. 0
radiation should be taken into consideration
T for the optimum design of photovoltaic
d
:: power systems.
e 0. 9
Jan. Mar. May Jul. Sep. Nov.
Month Acknowledgments-The authors would like to thank the
(b) Amorphous silicon people at (Foundation) Japan Quality Assurance
Organization and Sanyo Electric for their assistance and
Fig. 9. Accumulated output for each month of 1993. the Mr Peter Dine (an English lecturer at the Science University
calculated value (conventional method) and the measured of Tokyo).
value were both accumulated and compared for each month.

NOMENCLATURE
4.2. Accumulated output in each month
A area of PV modules (m’)
During each day of 1993, data was collected C,(n - l-6) spectral change rate in each wavelength band
from the PV modules and pyranometer on the D the coefficient of output decrease by dirt
E global irradiance on an inclined surface
roof of our campus building. Output was eval-
(kWm2)
uated by the conventional method using eqns E,(n - 1-6) spectral irradiance in each wavelength band
(4a) and (4b). This calculated value and the (kW/m*)
measured value were both accumulated and E* available spectrum to each solar cells
( kW/m’)
compared for each month. Figures 9(a) and (b) P 25 the maximum output at cell temperature of
show these comparisons. The measured values 25°C (W)
P max maximum output power (W)
for both materials showed a minimum in winter
JL spectral ratio in each month
and maximum in summer. Polycrystalline sili- spectral ratio in a year
4
con varied by 4% whereas the amorphous silicon R* available spectral ratio to each solar cells
cells showed a variation of 20%. These results t solar cell temperature (“C)
LY the temperature coefficient of maximum
show the same tendency as those indicated in output (l/q
Fig. 7, demonstrating that the output of PV h conversion efficiency
modules varies from season to season and that %I the total irradiation time for each month (h)
rY the total irradiation time for one year (h)
this is directly related to the variation in spectral
solar radiation.
REFERENCES
5. CONCLUSION Hirata Y. and Tani T. Evaluation of photovoltaic modules
considered spectral solar radiation. Trans. IEE Jap.
In this paper, it has been attempted to show 113-D, No.9 (1993).
the results of investigating how spectral solar Hirata Y. and Tani T. Evaluation of photovoltaic modules
considering - spectral
_ solar radiation, electrical engineer-
radiation effects the output of PV modules.
ing in Japan. Scripta Technica 114, No.8 (1994). -
Firstly, the seasonal variation in spectral solar Kohri K., Hirata Y., Tani T. and Nakai H. The transmission
radiation available to solar cells, was examined. of solar module coverglass-influence of output on envi-
Next, the accumulated measured value of PV ronmental exposure and dust. 1993 JSES.JWEA Joint
Co&, No.22 (1993).
module output was calculated for each month Kuwano Y. and Takeoka A. Solar Cell Guidebook, p. 27.
and the seasonal changes analyzed. Conse- Power Co., Tokyo (1990).
Solar Energy Utilization Handbook Committee, Solar
quently, the following points became clear:
Energy Utilization Handbook, p. 39. JSES, Tokyo (1985).
(i) The ratio of available to global solar radia- Tsugi T. The method to design power source. of solar cell.
tion had a seasonal variation of 5% for Solar Energy 9, p. 32 (1983).

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