An Explicit and Accurate I-V Characteristic for Photovoltaic Modules Based on Piecewise Quadratic Function

Deriving an accurate and simple current-voltage (I-V) characteristic for photovoltaic (PV) module is highly significant for condition monitoring, fault detection and maximizing power production in PV systems. Equivalent circuits consist of one or more diodes are mostly utilized for I-V curve modelling. However, these models are inherently implicit, relatively complex and nonlinear in their parameters. Here, a piecewise quadratic function with four different intervals is generated from the measured I-V data at standard test condition (STC). The intervals are chosen such that the best model performance can be achieved, especially at maximum power point. Each quadratic function is obtained from least square technique according to the experimental data in the corresponding interval. It is easy to obtain the voltage value at MPP from the extracted model, analytically. Also, a suggestion is provided for extending the generated I-V model to the real environmental condition by utilization of artificial neural network. The derived PV module model is highly suitable for maximum power point tracking, monitoring and fault detection due to its simplicity, explicit structure and accuracy.