Design of PV Array Model Based On

EMTDC/PSCAD
Jinhui Xue , Zhongdong Yin , Bingbing Wu, Jun Peng

II. OUTPUT CHARACTERISTIC AND MATHEMATIC

Abstract-- Along with consuming of fossil energy step by step,
crisis of energy has been appeared. The solar energy, which is
endless, is a kind of renewable energy. Radiation of sun coming
to earth in a day is equal to the energy, which is released by
trillion buckets of oil. The research of solar energy generation
has stepped into a very activity period. This paper analyses the
physics characteristic of photovoltaic array firstly, then
researches the mathematical model applying in engineering, and
designs the total simulation model based on power electronic
circuit in the end. In order to validate the correctness and
validity, this paper makes a simulation as an example. The
scheme can express the V-I characteristic of photovoltaic array
very well.
Index Terms—photovoltaic array; model; PI tracing; simulation;
EMTDC/PSCAD
I. INTRODUCTION
MODEL OF PV CELLS
A. The output V-I characteristic of PV cells
As power source of the solar generation system, PV cells
have its own inherent V-I characteristic. If the equivalent
impedance of load is small, PV cells are deemed to be a
current source under a certain external environment condition,
and the size of the current almost equals to short-circuit
current. As the equivalent impedance of load increases, PV
cells tend to be a voltage source. The current will decline soon
when the voltage is about to reach to the open circuit voltage,
while the voltage changes a little. And the V-I characteristic
will change while the external environment changes. The
short-circuit current will increase obviously but the open
circuit voltage changes a little as the light intensity increases.
And the open circuit voltage will be lower while short-circuit
current only increases a little as the temperature rises.

W
ith the rapid consumption of fossil fuels such as Therefore, PV cells will have the only maximum power point
coal, oil and natural gas, the energy crisis and under a certain external environment. This point locates at the
environmental pollution become more and more junction of the current source model and voltage source
serious. As a kind of massive and renewable energy model. When PV cells work at this point, it'll produce the
sources, solar energy is endless, clean and safe. Therefore the greatest output power.
research of the solar energy generation system is of great
significance. So it becomes an urgent problem to construct the B. Mathematic model of PV cells
simulation model of PV cells, which can be reasonable and
effective for simulation analysis on solar energy generation
system. Recent years, only few foreign companies developed
packages of PV cells, and such software is expensive, like
trsys. This will be well solved if the circuit which is designed
on the simulation software platform has the same output
characteristics as PV cells’.[7]
This paper makes an intuitionistic model of PV arrays based
on EMTDC/PSCAD platform. By controlling the power
electronic circuit, It makes the same output voltage and
current as PV array’s , which is changed as the change of
intensity and temperature at the same time. In the end, the
model is verified by simulation.

Fig 1. An equivalent circuit of silicon solar cell

This work was supported by national technology sustaining project
during 11st five years (2008BAA14B05).
Jinhui Xue , Zhongdong Yin, Bingbing Wu, are with Key Laboratory of
Power System Protection and Dynamic Security Monitoring and Control
under Ministry of Education (North China Electric Power University),
Beijing, 102206 (e-mail: super_xjh@163.com)
Figure 1 shows a commonly used equivalent circuit model
of single PV cell. U and I are the output voltage and current of
the PV cell. Actual PV cell is deemed to be a current source
whose value equals to Iph, paralleling with a forward diode.
Forward current that flows through the diode is viewed as dark

978-1-4244-2487-0/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE

current Id in the PV cell. Rs and Rsh are the series and parallel needs only four parameters provided by manufacturer, that is
resistance of the PV cell. Rs is made up of surface resistance open circuit voltage, short-circuit current, voltage and current
of the roof of the proliferation, body resistance of the cell, at the maximum power point. So you can use the mathematical
resistance between the top and bottom electrode and PV cell expressions to reappear the characteristics of PV arrays, which
as well as resistance of the metal conductor. Rsh is mainly can be convenient for computer analysis and calculation.
caused by the following factors: the surface leakage current
Parameters of the mathematical model applied in
along the edge of the cell, which is caused by the surface
engineering are got based on the standard test conditions.
spots; the leakage current along the small bridge that caused
Expressions are as follows: [5]
by the disfigurement of the micro-cracks, grains and crystal
after the electrode metal processing, or caused by the I = I sc (1 − C1 (e(V / C2Voc ) − 1))
dislocation and the irregular spread of the grains. （6）
a. Mathematic model applied in theory research C2 = (Vm / Voc − 1)[ In(1 − Im / I sc )]−1
（7）
The relations between voltage and current of the single PV ( −Vm / C2Voc )
cell can be deduced from the circuit principle. Expressions are C1 = (1 − Im / I sc )e
（8）
as follows: [5,6]
In the expressions, Isc, Voc, Im, Vm are short-circuit current,
I = I ph − I d − I r open circuit voltage, current and voltage at the maximum
（1） power point of PV arrays. These four parameters are basic
S data provided by manufacturer, and the V-I characteristic
I ph = I sc ( ) + CT (T − Tref ) curves under the standard test conditions can be identified
1000 （2）
from those four parameters. This paper uses matlab to draw
q (U + IRs ) the V-I characteristic curves based on the mathematic model
I d = I 0 [e 2
− 1] which is applied in engineering, and the component data is of
（3） PV cells of STP_190_18/Ub. Compared with the test data
qEg 1 1
− )] curves provided by manufacturer, you can find few differences
T 3
[ (
nk Tref T from the figure. The results are shown in Figure 2. Parameters
I0 = Id 0 ( ) e
Tref （4） of PV cells are: Isc=7.89A,Voc=33V,Im=7.31A,Vm=26V，

U + IRs
Ir =
Rsh （5）

Iph：current caused by light

S：Insolation
q：Electron charge, 1.6 e–19
Tref: reference temperature
T：temperature of PV cell
Eg：Energy gap
k：Boltzman constant, 1.38 e–23
Rs：Series parasitic resistance of a solar cell Fig 2. Comparison between curve between math model and
experiment in STC
Rsh：Shunt parasitic resistance of a solar cell
The environment makes a great impact on the V-I
n：Junction constant characteristic of PV cells in practical applications, especially
I0：Saturation current when the light or temperature changes . Usually the light
intensity S is in the range of 0 ~ 1000 W/m2 on the ground.
Isc：Short-circuit current The temperature of solar cells changes more, about 10 ~ 70 .
.All data provided by the manufacturer were got in a standard
CT：temperature coefficient test environment. To get the parameters in any external
b. Mathematical model applied in engineering environment, you should recalculate them using the standard
data as reference, then draw the new characteristic curves in
What photovoltaic system emphasizes in the practical the new environment by the expressions (6)-(8). The
application is a combination of accuracy and availability. expressions, which can be used to calculate the parameters of
Taking into account the workload of the calculation and rapid new environment are as follows:[3,4]
response of the simulation, the paper uses mathematical model
of PV cells applied in engineering for simulation. This model Δ T = T − Tref
（9）
 S
ΔS = −1
Sref （10）

S
Isc ' = Isc (1 + aΔT )
Sref （11）

Voc ' = Voc (1 + c Δ T [ In (1 + b Δ S )])

（12）
S
Im' = Im (1 + a ΔT )
Sref （13）

Vm ' = Vm (1 + c Δ T [ In (1 + b Δ S )]) Fig 4. operation points of photovoltaic array in different

（14）
In the expressions, Isc', Voc', Im', Vm' are parameters of PV
cells in the actual physical environment. And a, b, c are their
correction factors, which can be calculated from a large
number of curves of experimental data. Take a = 0.00055
， b = 0.5 ， c = 0.00288 , according to the expressions
(9)-(14) and (6)-(8) based on the parameters under the
standard test conditions, you can get the V-I characteristic
curves when the value of light intensity is separately 600
W/m2, 800W/m2 and 1000W/m2
They are all shown in Figure 3 as well as the curves under
the corresponding experimental data.
circumstances
If the environment is fixed (for example, S values 800W/m2
), b is the stability work point of the circuit when load
resistance values is 5ohm. If the load resistance changes ( for
example, from 5ohm to 3.5ohm ) the work point of the circuit
will move from b to e. And the automatic control system will
adjust the output current and voltage so that it can be stability
in the e. Similarly, the control system of the model should
adjust the output voltage and current effectively when the
external environment changes.

Fig 5. The main circuit of buck

Fig 3. Comparison of curve between math model and experiment in
different circumstances
The characteristic curve based on the mathematic model
applyede in engineering is identified with the curve based on
the experimental data after comparison.
III. DESIGN OF SIMULATION MODEL
A. Design principle
The simulation model of PV cells should meet the output
characteristic of photovoltaic arrays and load resistance at the
same time. Take Figure 4 for example, the specific process is
as follows:
This article chooses Buck circuit , which is easier to be
controlled, as the main circuit. Fig 5 shows the main circuit of
buck. The operation principle of Buck converter is as follows:
When the switch G opens, the source will supply power to the
load and the capacitance through the coil inductance L.
Meanwhile the inductor current linearly increases, and the
inductor is in energy storage state while the capacitor is in the
state of charging. Simultaneity the diode closes because of the
reverse voltage. When the switch is of shutdown, due to the
continued flow of the inductance coils, the inductor current
gradually declines. And the capacitor is in the state of
discharge. Simultaneity the diode gives a current path because
of the forward voltage. Owing to the energy storage roles of
the capacitor and inductor, there is few fluctuations in voltage
at both ends of the load R as well as the current when the
circuit is in steady-state. The output voltage depends on the
duty cycle of the switch. And the relationship between the
output and input voltage is as follows:
 ton will be negative and the system will be in instability if the
U o = DU s = Us （15） output voltage is greater than open circuit voltage. Make the
Ts error between the output voltage and open circuit voltage gone
through the sign function, blockade the pulse immediately and
Therefore, you can change the output voltage which will
make the voltage decline mandatory when the output voltage
change the output current later, through adjusting the duty
is greater than the open circuit voltage, so that the voltage can
cycle D under a certain load and light intensity. So you can
be controlled within the open circuit voltage.
meet the V-I characteristic of PV cells and load at the same
time. When the load or the external environment changed, the
automatic control system of the model will readjust D, so that
the output of the voltage and the current can be stability in the
work point which meets the constraints.

B. Design of control strategy

Voc

-
F(V) Vo + sign

Iref

Current PWM Io
+ regulator G(s)
- PI
modulator d(s)-I(s)

Fig 6. control diagram of simulation model

The control diagram of the simulation model is shown in Fig 7. diagram of simulation model in PSCAD
Figure 6. And the goal is to control the current and the voltage
to make them stability in the correct work point.[1,2]
IV. VERIFICATION OF SIMULATION EXAMPLES
The control process is as follows: The circuit works at a
stable state at one duty cycle after a soft-start firstly. At the A. Change load resistance only
same time the control circuit feeds back the output voltage
signal, then calculates the value of the output current that is Firstly, keep a certain light intensity and temperature to get
needed by using the mathematical model of PV cells applied a group data of U, I by changing the load resistance several
in engineering with the external environment information. times. Then compare the fitting curve with the curve of the
This output current is the reference current of the current mathematical model that applied in engineering to validate
controller. Then the error between the reference current and that the model could be stability in the right point. The result
actual current will produce a control signal by the current was shown in Figure 8. We can see that the two curves are
regulator. When the control signal goes through the basically coincidence. Therefore it can be verified that the
modulator, it will produce a switch signal, which can be used model is correct with strong usability and small error.
to adjust the output current. Changes in the output current will
inevitably cause changes in the output voltage, and this will
produce a new reference current by the output voltage
feedback signals. The actual current is made to track the
reference current continuing by the control system. Finally,
the system will reach a stable state, in which the voltage and
current meet the constraint relations at the same time. The
simulation model in PSCAD is shown in Figure 7.
As shown in the model, F(v) is a function module, which is
the function expressions of the mathematical model applied in
engineering. Besides the voltage, the temperature and light
signals are also its input. The functional relation of F(v) will
change when the temperature or light changes. So it can
calculate a new reference current in real time under new
environment. Fig 8. comparison of curves between math model and simulation
Additionally, limiting control is needed to ensure the
stability of the system. The output current calculated by F(v)
B. Change external environment
Firstly, observe the changes of the output voltage and
current with the changes of light intensity and temperature
under light or heavy load conditions.
Fig. 9. U and I of different loads in different circumstances
Figure 9(a) shows the variation curves of the voltage and
the current of the load, where the light intensity is from 1000
W/m2 reduced to 800 W/m2 at one second and the load
resistance is 3ohm. From the simulation wave we can find that
the PV cells are deemed to be a current source when the load
resistance is small. And the size of the current is determined
by the light condition, that is the stronger the light, the greater
the current. And this is consistent with the actual situation.
Figure 9(b) shows the variation curves of the voltage and
the current of the load when the light intensity changed, and
the load resistance is 100ohm. In order to be shown clearly,
the current curve is zoomed in 50 times. Both ends voltage of
the PV cells approximate equals to the open circuit voltage
while the current is very small with great load resistance. So
the waveform of the current hardly changes, and because the
light intensity has little impact on the open circuit voltage, the
waveform of the voltage only fluctuates a bit. This is
consistent with the actual situation.
V. CONCLUSION
This paper researched the mathematical model of PV cells
which is applied in engineering firstly, and designed a kind of
power electronic circuits which can be controlled to make the
output voltage and current meet the output characteristic of PV
cells based on EMTDC/PSCAD platform. Then the paper
researched the mathematical model of PV cells under any
external environment, considering the light intensity and
temperature changes at the same time, and designed the
simulation models of the solar cells array. To validate the
model, made the simulation as an example, and compared the
simulation results with the experimental data, final results
show that the model could simulate the characteristic of PV
cells array in any light intensity and temperature conditions if
the parameters were properly changed. The rational design of
the model was validated by the simulation results, which is of
great significance for the study of solar power generation
system.
VI. REFERENCES
Periodicals:
[1] Su Jianhui,Yu Shijie, Zhao Wei,etc,” AN INVESTIGATION ON
DIGITAL SOLAR ARRAY SIMULATOR”, Acta Energiae Solaris
Sinica, 2002, 23(1): 111- 114.
[2] SONG Ping gang,” Research on Photovoltaic Simulator in Renewable
Energy System”, Power Electronics, 2003, 37(4): 41—44.
[3] Meiqin Mao, Shijie Yu, Jianhui Su,”Versatile Matlab Simulation Model
for Photovoltaic Array with MPPT Function”, Acta Simulata
Systematica Sinica, 2005, 17(5):1248- 1251.
[4] Su Jianhui, Yu Shijie, Zhao Wei, Wu Minda,”INVESTIGATION ON
ENGINEERING ANALYTICAL MODEL OF SILICON SOLAR
CELLS”, Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica,2001,22 (4) :409-412.
[5] A.ZAHEDI,” Development of An Electrical Model For A PV/Battery
System for Performance Prediction”, Renewable Energy, 1998，15(1):
531-534.
VII. BIOGRAPHIES
Jinhui Xue was born in Zhangjiakou, china, in
1982. From 2002 to 2006, he studied in Yanshan
University, Hebei province, and received the B.S.
Since 2006, he has been in North China Electric
Power University, where he is a post-graduate
student in School of Electrical Engineering, mainly
engaging in research of power electronics, power
quality and their control systems. His research
intertest is connection-grid of renewable energy.
Zhongdong Yin was born in Wuhan, China, in 1968. He received the B.S.,
M.S.,and Ph.D. degrees in Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric
Engineering, Wuhan, China, in 1991, 1993 and
1997, respectively.
Bingbing Wu was born in PuTian,
FuJian, China, in 1986. From 2003 to
2007, she studied in North China Electric
Power University, Hebei province, and
received the B.S. Since 2007
Jun Peng was born in zizhong, Sichuan
province, China. He is a senior engineer in Zigong Electric
Power Bureau now. Meanwhile, he is also a candidate for
master degree in ChongQing University. His major research is
Power System and its Automation as well with High-voltage
technology..