IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS, VOL. 10, NO.
2, MARCH 2020
Computing Solar Irradiance and Average
Temperature of Photovoltaic Modules From the
Maximum Power Point Coordinates
Caio Felippe Abe , João Batista Dias , Gilles Notton , and Philippe Poggi
Abstract—The electricity produced by photovoltaic sources is
mainly influenced by the solar irradiance and temperature of the
cells. The literature presents methods to estimate these parameters
through the measurements of open-circuit voltage and short-circuit
current of the array. However, in an actual photovoltaic system,
changing the operating point of the module to short circuit or open
circuit requires the array to be disconnected from the inverter,
thus causing an impact on the electrical energy production. Such a
problem could be avoided if the irradiance and the cell temperature
were computed by means of the maximum power point coordinates,
which is the focus of this article. To perform the calculation of the
irradiance and the temperature of a photovoltaic module, a study of
the relationship between the electric parameters and the operating
conditions has been carried out. This concerns the modeling of the
photovoltaic cell with respect to the identification and translation of
parameters. In addition, IEC-60 891, which proposes equations for
the voltage and current translation of photovoltaic generators, has
been considered. Finally, application and performance evaluation
of a new equation using the thermal coefficient of power, which
relates the maximum power to the irradiance and cell temperature,
is also presented. Experimental verification of the methods has been
carried out, presenting consistent results.
Index Terms—IEC-60 891, photovoltaics (PVs), PV cell
temperature estimation, single-diode model (SDM), solar
irradiance estimation.
I. INTRODUCTION
HEN dealing with photovoltaic (PV) systems, regardless
W of their size, knowing the solar irradiance (G) and cell
temperature Tc levels is an essential requirement to relate the
electrical behavior of the PV system to the operating condition.
Due to the cost of instruments and installation, it is not uncom-
mon that small PV systems operate without the quantification
of such variables. As a result, the system operator might es-
tablish empirical relations between the ambient conditions (air
Manuscript received October 2, 2019; revised November 28, 2019; accepted
January 7, 2020. Date of publication January 30, 2020; date of current version
February 19, 2020. This work was supported in part by the Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil - Finance Code 001.
(Corresponding author: Caio Felippe Abe.)
C. F. Abe and J. B. Dias are with Photovoltaic Solar Energy Laboratory, Unisi-
nos Unversity, São Leopoldo 93022-750, Brazil (e-mail: abe.caio@gmail.com;
joaobd@unisinos.br).
G. Notton and P. Poggi are with the UMR CNRS 6134 SPE, University of
Corsica, 20000 Ajaccio, France (e-mail: notton_g@univ-corse.fr; poggi_p@
univ-corse.fr).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2020.2966362
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655
temperature, the season of the year, and weather condition) and
the system output parameters usually informed by the inverter,
such as the maximum power point Pmpp and the respective
operating voltage Vmpp and current Impp . However, such elec-
trical quantities are influenced by both G and Tc in different
proportions, making it quite difficult to deduce the PV array
behavior without quantifying them.
In the literature, methods to compute the solar irradiance
and cell temperature from the electrical measurements of PV
modules have been proposed. For instance, Tan et al. [1] concern
the estimation of the solar irradiance from the measurements
of the short-circuit current Isc of a small PV module, using
an equation derived from a model of PV cells written for G.
For that, identification of the model parameters is required. In
[2], a small PV sensing panel is connected to a load resistor,
and the voltage across it is measured, therefore also allowing
the operating current to be quantified. These values, as well as
the measured PV module temperature, are used as inputs in a
low-cost microcontroller, which implements a neural network
capable of computing G. An estimator presented in [3] also uses
the measured values of voltage, current, and cell temperature to
compute solar irradiance, providing practically the same results
as [2], with the advantage of smaller latency. In turn, Farivar and
Asaei [4] use the voltage and current at the maximum power
point to compute the temperature of a PV module, based on
the modeling of the PV device. The paper also presents the
procedures to compute the parameters of the model. In contrast
with [4], Abe et al. [5] present a method to compute the cell
temperature of a PV module from the measurements of the
open-circuit voltage Voc and solar irradiance. None of the articles
[1]–[5] regards the calculation of both G and Tc . However, this
is accomplished in [6]–[8], and particularly in [6], different
algorithms to compute G and Tc are presented. They employ,
as inputs, Voc , Isc , and the operating voltage and current of the
module. It is, therefore, necessary to shift the operating point of
the PV module, which is carried out by an electronic converter.
An estimator for G and Tc is presented in [7], where voltages
near Voc and currents close to Isc are used as inputs; therefore,
the method requires shifting the operating point of the module.
Finally, Moshksar and Ghanbari [8] present a procedure for
the determination of G and Tc from the maximum power point
condition, which requires the identification of the parameters of
a PV cell model and the use of several nonlinear relations.
656
Fig. 1. Single diode model of a PV cell.
The present study proposes a simple method to estimate the
solar irradiance G from Impp , without relying on the measure-
ments of the short-circuit current. Furthermore, it presents a new
equation to compute Tc based on Vmpp , G, and the temperature
coefficient of power (γ). In total, six different approaches to
compute Tc , which do not depend on the measurements of Voc ,
are considered in order to determine the associated errors and to
compare the complexity regarding their application. The goal of
this article is to provide a straightforward method to quantify G
and Tc of a PV module based only on the datasheet information
and measurements of Impp and Vmpp . This way, the operating
condition of the PV array is not shifted, and it keeps operating
at the Pmpp , whereas the use of sensors to measure Tc and G
is avoided. It is worth noting that using the PV array as an
irradiance and temperature sensor requires the modules to be
clean and free of any malfunctioning.
This article is organized as follows. In Section II, an overview
of modeling methods for PV modules is presented. Furthermore,
in Section III, the methods are employed to compute G and Tc
based on the datasheet information. In Section IV, simulations
and experimental verifications under outdoor conditions are
presented, and finally, Section V concludes this article.
II. MODELING THE BEHAVIOR OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES
To compute the irradiance and the temperature of PV modules
from the current and voltage at the maximum power point,
different modeling methods of PV sources have been considered
and are presented in this section.
A. Single-Diode Model (SDM) of the Photovoltaic Cell:
Identification and Translation Procedures
The SDM for PV devices presents good balance between
the complexity and precision [9], [10]; therefore, it is normally
employed to simulate PV generators [11]. The electrical circuit
regarding this model is presented in Fig. 1 in which the currents
can be written as
Ipv = Iph − Id − Ip
where Iph is the photogenerated current, and Ipv is the current at
the output of the PV cell. Writing the current Id as the Schockley
junction equation and Ip as a function of Ipv and Vpv results
  q V +I R   tion method B, where the adjustment of Iph is performed by the
( pv pv s )
n c A K Tc Vpv + Ipv Rs
Ipv = Iph − I0 e −1 − (2)
Rp
where
I0 diode dark saturation current in A;
q elementary charge, 1.60217662 ×10−19 C;
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IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS, VOL. 10, NO. 2, MARCH 2020
A diode ideality factor;
k Boltzmann constant, 1.3806505 ×10−23 J/K;
nc number of cells connected in series in the module; the
parameters Voc , Rs , and Rp scaled according to nc .
1) Identification of the Single-Diode Model Parameters: The
operating current and voltage at the output of a PV module can
be related using (2). Therefore, if such values are known, the
equation can be solved for Tc , as long as the parameters Iph , I0 ,
A, Rs , and Rp have been previously defined. In the literature,
methods regarding the identification of such parameters have
been proposed. For instance, Sera et al. [12] present an exact
method to compute the five SDM parameters using the infor-
mation found on the datasheets of PV modules. Such a method
is referred to as 5-Par and concerns the iterative solution of a
system of three nonlinear equations to define the parameters A,
Rs , and Rp , whereas the remaining parameters Iph and I0 are
explicitly computed.
Since iterative approaches require considerable computing
effort, approximate methods have been proposed, thus allowing
faster and simpler explicit solutions. The study presented in [13]
concerns the assumption of a predominant resistance and leads
to cases where Rp can be considered infinite or cases in which
Rs can be considered zero. Therefore, in either case, a set of
four parameters has to be computed since the effect of one of
the resistances is neglected. Such a method is referred to as 4-Par.
2) Adjusting the Single-Diode Model Parameters: The iden-
tification methods provide the SDM parameters under standard
test condition (STC), where G = 1000 W/m2 and Tc = 25 °C. For
different levels of irradiance and cell temperature, the parameters
Iph and I0 have to be adjusted accordingly. In this article, the
parameters A, Rs , and Rp are considered constant, although Rp
can change with respect to G. Thus, for Iph and I0 , two translation
methods have been considered: one proposed in [14], which
relies on the semiconductor bandgap energy Eg ; and another
presented in [15] using data extracted from the datasheet of the
module under analysis, considering STC, nominal operating cell
temperature (NOCT), and low irradiance condition (LIC). It is
worth noting that the condition for NOCT is G = 800 W/m2 ,
the ambient temperature of 20 °C, and wind speed of 1 m/s.
In addition, under LIC, G = 200 W/m2 and Tc = 25 °C. The
method introduced in [14] is referred to as the translation method
A, presenting
 3  q Eg  
 Tc Tc,STC − Tc
1 1
I0 = I0 e AK
(3)
Tc,STC
(1) and
 
 G
Iph = Iph (1 + α (Tc − Tc,STC )) . (4)
GSTC
In turn, the method introduced in [15] is referred to as transla-
same equation as in [14], and (5) is introduced. Details regarding
the calculation of δ(Tc ) can be found in [15]
 
G
Voc = Voc,STC (1 + β (Tc − TSTC )) 1 + δ (Tc ) ln .
GSTC
(5)
ABE et al.: COMPUTING SOLAR IRRADIANCE AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 657

B. IEC-60 891: Using the Voltage and Current Temperature

Coefficients
The IEC-60 891 [16] presents the procedures for the transla-
tion of the I–V characteristic of PV devices, according to the
irradiance and temperature conditions. Procedure 1 presents an
equation for voltage correction that does not include the effect
of irradiance. Such a procedure should be used for translations
regarding irradiance values within +/−30% of the level at which
the reference measurements were made [16]. Since this is a rather
limited approach, Procedure 1 has not been considered in this
study. In turn, Procedure 2 presents the equations for current
(6) and voltage (7) correction, which includes the effect of solar
irradiance. The norm describes the procedures to determine the
three unknown coefficients of (7): a, Rs , and k. The parameters
αrel and βrel (in °C−1 ) are the temperature coefficients of Isc and
Fig. 2. I–V curves under different irradiances and temperatures.
Voc , respectively
 
G2
I2 = I1 (1 + αrel (T2 − T1 )) (6)
G1 In (12), ψ is the coefficient of irradiance dependency of
   Vmpp , and it can be computed using datasheet STC and NOCT
G2
V2 = V1 + Voc1 βrel (T2 − T1 ) + a ln information, along with the voltage thermal coefficient β from
G1
Vmpp,NOCT − Voc,STC β (TNOCT − TSTC )−Vmpp,STC
− Rs (I2 − I1 ) − kI2 (T2 − T1 ) . (7) ψ=   .
Voc,STC ln GGNOCTSTC

C. Pmpp Translation: Using the Power (13)

Temperature Coefficient It is worth mentioning that in (12) the effect of the series
resistance of the module is neglected. In turn, τ is a correction
The datasheets of PV modules usually include the thermal factor for γ, which can be adjusted once ψ has been defined.
coefficient (γ) for the maximum power point. The Pmpp,STC Such an adjustment can be carried out using (11) with Pmpp =
can be translated according to the irradiance and cell temperature Pmpp,NOCT , Tc = Tc,NOCT , and G = GNOCT . As a result, the
using (8), which is a power model adopted in the PVFORM PV method will produce an error on Tc equal to zero at NOCT.
system simulation program [17] Reorganizing the terms in (11) provides
G  
Pmpp = Pmpp,STC [1 + γ (TC − TC,STC )] . (8) Pmpp GSTC 1
GSTC TC = −1 + TC,STC .
G Impp,STC (Vmpp (G)) τγ
Considering the case where Tc is equal to Tc,STC , the trans- (14)
lated Pmpp in (8) depends only on G and on the parameters of
the PV module. Thus, since D. Estimating the Irradiance From the Impp
G As earlier mentioned, solar irradiance quantification can be
Vmpp Impp = Pmpp,STC (9)
GSTC achieved from the measurements of Isc and Tc of a calibrated PV
module, but in this article, only measurements of Impp and Vmpp
and
are considered. Thus, the behavior of such variables has to be
G studied in order to establish a method to estimate the irradiance
Impp = Impp,STC (10)
GSTC from these measurements. Under the same irradiance levels and
the maximum power voltage Vmpp is considered constant in (9) different temperatures, the Impp presents a very slight variation.
and, therefore, in (8). However, it is known that Vmpp presents This is illustrated in Fig. 2, which presents the simulated I–V
variation according to the irradiance, therefore using (8) in cases curves of a multicrystalline Sun Edison model P265 module. The
where G differs too much from GSTC may produce considerable curves have been computed using (2) with the SDM parameters
errors. Since the voltage of a PV cell changes according to the computed by means of the exact five-parameter method [12]
logarithm of the ratio G/GSTC , (8) can be rewritten as along with translation method A [14]. The maximum power
point of each curve is marked with “x.”
G The plot on Fig. 2 shows that the Vmpp varies widely according
Pmpp = Impp,STC (Vmpp (G)) (1+τ γ (TC − TC,STC ))
GSTC to the temperature and slightly with irradiance, whereas the Impp
(11) varies widely according to G, but is quite stable under the same
with G, even when the temperature changes widely. This allows, as
 
G an approximation, the relation of the Impp with the irradiance
Vmpp (G) = Vmpp,STC + Voc,STC ψ ln . (12)
GSTC G. For that, the short-circuit current can be estimated based on

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658 IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS, VOL. 10, NO. 2, MARCH 2020

TABLE I TABLE III

DATASHEET INFORMATION FOR STC CONDITION DATASHEET INFORMATION FOR NOCT CONDITION

TABLE II
DATASHEET COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION TABLE IV
COMPUTED IRRADIANCES UNDER NOCT AND PERCENT ERRORS

the assumption that the relation Isc /Impp is constant. Relating

the estimated Isc with Isc,STC allows the computation of the TABLE V
FOUR-PARAMETER SDM SET
irradiance. Such a method relies, also, on the assumption that
the influence of the temperature on Impp can be neglected. Thus
Isc,STC 1
G ≈ 1000 Impp (15)
Impp,STC Isc,STC
which simplifies to
Impp
G ≈ 1000 . (16)
Impp,STC
Table III. The respective results are presented in Table IV as well
III. COMPUTING IRRADIANCE AND CELL TEMPERATURE
as the percent errors. It should be pointed that for all modules,
FROM THE Pmpp COORDINATES
the irradiance under the NOCT condition is 800 W/m2 .
In this section, the datasheets of six commercial PV modules The absolute errors on G computed from (16), as reported in
are used as a reference. From the reported Impp and Vmpp under Table IV, show that neglecting the temperature effect on Impp
STC and NOCT conditions, the solar irradiance and the average while considering Isc /Impp constant provides a simple, however,
temperature have been computed by employing the methods reliable approximation for the irradiance. Tests considering
presented in Section II. Since the values of such quantities are higher temperatures of operation as well as different irradiance
informed on the datasheets, the errors regarding each computing levels are studied further in this article.
method and each module could be assessed. The STC exter-
nal parameters of Sanyo HIT-H250E01 and HIT-N230SE10, B. Tc ,NOCT From Vmpp and Impp Using Single-Diode
SunEdison SE-P265NPB, Canadian Solar CS6K-280P, LDK Model Modeling
Solar LDK-240D-20, and Yingli YL260C-30b modules are or-
Writing (2) for Vpv = Vmpp and Ipv = Impp allows the
ganized in Table I. These modules are referred to, respectively,
relataion of the Pmpp coordinates with the cell temperature
as H250, N230, P265, 280P, 240D, and 260C, for simplicity.
Tc . However, the parameters I0 and Iph have to be adjusted
Complementary data are presented in Table II, where mSi and
according to the operating condition, being written as the func-
pSi refer, respectively, to monocrystalline and multicrystalline
tions of Tc and G. Inserting the translating equations of Iph
cell technologies.
and I0 in (2) allows the solution of the resulting equation
Regarding the operation under the NOCT condition, Table III
for Tc , provided that the parameters of the SDM have been
presents the external parameters for each module. It is worth
properly defined and that G is known. To compute the SDM
noting that the operating temperature of the six modules under
parameters, Sera et al. [12] and Luna et al. [13] have been
NOCT is not the same.
employed in a MATLAB code, which is capable of comput-
ing the parameters of all the modules considered in this sec-
A. Computing the Irradiance Under Nominal Operating tion relying only on the datasheet information. The parame-
Cell Temperature
ters obtained by means of the approximate method [13] are
From (16), the solar irradiance for each module under NOCT presented in Table V, whereas the complete five-parameter
has been computed, using the reported Impp,NOCT values of sets calculated according to [12] are provided in Table VI.

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ABE et al.: COMPUTING SOLAR IRRADIANCE AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES
TABLE VI
FIVE-PARAMETER SDM SET
TABLE VII
Tc,NOCT COMPUTED BY MEANS OF SDM MODELING
Fig. 3. Simulated I–V curves under NOCT for the P265 module using four
combinations of methods.
It is worth recalling that such parameters are referred to STC
condition.
To compute the Tc under NOCT from the reported Impp
and Vmpp by means of the SDM modeling, four combinations
between the parameter identification and translation methods
are possible: the exact five-parameter and the approximate
four-parameter sets can be used in conjunction with translation
methods A and B. Such combinations are referred to as 5-Par,A
and 4-Par,A, considering identification methods [12] and [13]
used in conjunction with translation procedure [14]; and 5-Par,B
and 4-Par,B, concerning the same identification procedures used
along with translation method [15]. From the reported Impp and
Vmpp under NOCT, the Tc,NOCT has been calculated for each
module, and the resulting values are presented in Table VII.
From Table VII, it can be observed that for each of the six
modules, the computed Tc varies widely according to the method
employed. This is because of the inaccuracies presented by each
combination of methods regarding the Pmpp . To illustrate this,
Fig. 3 presents the I–V curves under NOCT for the P265 module.
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659
TABLE VIII
IEC-60 891 PROCEDURE 2 PARAMETERS FOR VOLTAGE TRANSLATION
The point marked with “+” refers to the datasheet information
concerning the Pmpp under NOCT. Although 4-Par,B performed
very well to compute the average temperature of the P265
module under NOCT, the results provided by such a method
considering the other modules are not convincing. In fact, none
of the methods studied in this section has been found to present
uniform results for all the six modules, as each method produced
errors higher than 5% on Tc for at least half of the modules
studied.
From Fig. 3, it can be observed that concerning the Pmpp ,
method 4-Par,B presents a smaller deviation than the others.
This is in agreement with Table X, which shows that for the P265
module, the Tc,NOCT computed by means of 4-Par,B presents a
negligible error, considering the reported Tc,NOCT of 45 °C.
C. Tc,NOCT From Vmpp and Impp Using IEC-60 891
Procedure 2 of IEC-60 891 [16] presents (7), which is a
translation equation for the voltage and can be used to compute
Tc from the Vmpp . For that, the Vmpp,STC is taken as V1 , whereas
the Vmpp under a certain condition of G2 and Tc2 is taken as V2 .
It should be recalled that in this section, the datasheets of the
modules studied have been used as a reference, and the task
is to compute the Tc,NOCT from the reported Impp,NOCT and
Vmpp,NOCT . Therefore, the quantities with subscript 1 in (7)
refer to the STC condition, while subscript 2 refers to the NOCT
condition.
Quantification of the unknown variables in (7) has been car-
ried out as specified on IEC-60 891. For that, different I–V curves
were needed. The first set concerns the curves under the same
temperature and different irradiances, in order to compute the
parameters a and Rs . The second curve set is formed by curves
under the same irradiance level, however, at different tempera-
tures so that the parameter k can be adjusted. The curves have
been obtained using the exact five-parameter set for the SDM
[12] along with translation procedure A [14]. The adjustment
of parameters has been performed by successive increments
on their values, followed by the quantitative inspection of the
resulting transposed curves. The parameter adjustment process
has been repeated for the six modules considered in this article,
and the resulting values are presented in Table VIII.
Once the parameters a, Rs , and k have been quantified, (7) has
been computed using the Vmpp and Impp under NOCT provided
on each module datasheet. Solving (7) for Tc , thus, results in
the calculated NOCT temperature of each module, which is also
presented in Table VIII.
660 IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS, VOL. 10, NO. 2, MARCH 2020

TABLE IX TABLE X
PARAMETERS FOR THE Pmpp TRANSLATION EQUATION PERCENT ERRORS ON Tc,NOCT FOR EACH MODULE AND
COMPUTING METHOD

D. Tc ,NOCT From Vmpp and Impp Using Pmpp

Translation Equation
A simpler approach to compute the cell temperature from the
Pmpp is by means of (14), which is a new equation proposed
in this article. It employs the thermal dependency factor γ and
requires the parameters ψ and τ to be previously calculated,
which is done based only on the STC and NOCT data extracted
from the datasheet of the module under analysis. This way, it is
not necessary to rely on the SDM modeling equations or on the
measured curves. The values of ψ and τ , computed according
to Section II-C, are organized in Table IX, which also presents
the calculated values of Tc .
It can be observed that concerning parameter ψ, negative and
positive values have been found. This is because of the particular Fig. 4. Reference G and Tc and percent error on computed Tc of P265 module
characteristics of each module: a negative value of ψ means that using (14).
the Vmpp,NOCT corrected to 25 °C is higher than the Vmpp,STC .
In fact, when simulating the condition given by G = 800 W/m2
and Tc = 25 °C using 4-Par,A, 5-par,A, 4-Par,B or 5-Par,B Tc,NOCT with considerable errors. In (6) and (7), the irradiance
methods for the six modules, no strict correlation regarding the has been computed by means of (16).
Vmpp position relatively to the Vmpp,STC has been found. The Finally, the simplest approach (14) proposed in this article is
Vmpp under 800 W/m2 and 25 °C can be higher or lower than a translation equation for the Pmpp relying on γ, which has been
the Vmpp,STC , depending on both of the PV module and the adjusted to coincide with STC and NOCT information reported
modeling method chosen. on the datasheets of the modules. Such a method produced the
smallest percent errors on Tc . It is worth mentioning that (14)
E. Discussion depends on G, which has been computed from the approximation
presented in (16). The percent errors are summarized in Table X,
Six approaches to compute Tc,NOCT based on the information
per module and method.
provided on the datasheets of six commercial PV modules have
The performance of (14) to compute Tc has also been studied
been studied in this section. The first four approaches, regarding
considering conditions different from NOCT; in fact, arbitrary
the SDM model of the PV cell, are the most complex since they
levels of G and Tc have been used to compute I–V curves
concern the identification and translation of the SDM parameters
from which the Impp and Vmpp values have been extracted.
prior to solve (2). Nevertheless, the Tc,NOCT computed from
This procedure considers 4-Par,B combination and the P265
the reported Impp and Vmpp under NOCT present relatively high
module, since this is the combination of methods and module
errors, owing to the inaccuracies of each combination of methods
that produced the smallest error on the computed Tc,NOCT .
at the Pmpp .
This way, the error introduced by the SDM modeling method
Another approach, which is through IEC-60 891 [16] and
is minimized, allowing the performance of (14) to be checked.
presents intermediate complexity, requires that three parameters
The irradiance and temperature levels, as well as the absolute
are computed based on two I–V curve sets. These curve sets can
percent errors on the computed Tc , are illustrated in Fig. 4. It
be obtained through the use of a solar simulator, which is not
is worth mentioning that the highest error on the computed G,
always possible, given the high cost of such an equipment. Thus,
which has been estimated using (16), is 0.37% and is related to
in this article, the I–V curves have been computed by means
the case under 400 W/m2 and 45 °C.
of the 5-Par,A combination, which concerns the quantification
and translation of the SDM parameters. However, it has been
IV. EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION
demonstrated in this section that the SDM modeling does not
consist a reliable resource to compute the Tc,NOCT of the six Practical tests have been carried out using a Sun Edison P265
modules considered at this phase because of the inaccuracies module to evaluate the performance of the methods considered in
at the Pmpp . As a result, the IEC-60 891 method provides the this article. Laboratory equipment used at this phase of the study

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ABE et al.: COMPUTING SOLAR IRRADIANCE AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES 661

TABLE XI
DATA REGARDING THE MEASURED I–V CURVES

Fig. 5. Resources at Unisinos PV Solar Energy Laboratory.

are presented in Fig. 5. Since the computed variables are G and

Tc , consistent references for such quantities have been selected. Fig. 6. I–V curves of the P265 module traced under different conditions.
The reference for the irradiance is a calibrated Komaes KM(P)5
PV module, installed at the same inclination as that of the P265
module. This sensor module operates close to the short-circuit
point by means of a precision shunt resistor. The temperature of
the sensor module is measured using an LM-35 sensor, fitted in
its back surface. Since the Isc,STC and its temperature coefficient
α are known, measuring the Isc and the cell temperature allows
the computation of the irradiance G, through the use of (6).
To quantify the reference temperature of the P265 module,
the use of sensors attached to its back surface has been initially
avoided, given the size of the module and the fact that the
temperature distribution along its surface is not uniform at
outdoors. Instead, the Tc has been computed by means of G,
Voc , and the parameters of the module under STC and NOCT,
using translation method B to compute Tc , as proposed in [5].
For the measurement of Impp and Vmpp , an I–V curve tracer Fig. 7. Percent errors on Tc for each method: I–V curves.
whose construction is outlined in [18] has been employed, as
this ensures that the actual Pmpp coordinates are used for the compared with the reference values. The resulting percent errors
calculation of G and Tc . Testing of the methods described in this relative to the reference Tc , which has been calculated for each
article considering the use of an inverter, which establishes the curve and method via the open-circuit method, as described in
operating voltage and current through a maximum power point [5], are provided in Fig. 7. From it, it can be observed that the
tracking (MPPT) system, is described in Section IV-B. errors provided by 4-Par,B and (14) when computing Tc are
almost coincident until curve 7. For curves 8–12, (14) produced
A. Computing Tc From Impp and Vmpp : I–V Data smaller errors. Since the proposed Pmpp equation introduced in
this article (14) and combination 4-Par,B provide close results,
I–V curves under different known conditions of G and Tc
a better-scaled comparison is illustrated in Fig. 8. In turn, the
have been measured and are illustrated in Fig. 6. From the
percent errors on G computed by means of (16) are presented in
respective Pmpp coordinates, the methods presented in Section II
Fig. 9.
have been employed to calculate G and Tc . The coordinates of
the maximum power point of each curve presented in Fig. 6
B. Computing Tc From Impp and Vmpp : Inverter With MPPT
as well as the reference values of G and Tc related to each
measurement are presented in Table XI. For each case, G and The current and voltage of the P265 module, in operation
Tc have been computed by means of the Impp and Vmpp and along with a Sunny Boy SB-240 microinverter, have been

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662
Fig. 8. Comparing the proposed Pmpp (14) with 4-Par,B: I–V curves case.
Fig. 9. Percent error on G for each curve.
recorded using a microcontroller-based acquisition hardware,
which provides data to a monitoring platform built on LabView.
The voltage and current values registered by such a system have
been checked prior to the beginning of the tests described in
this section. Since this phase of the study considers relatively
long-term recording, computing Tc by means of the Voc method
described in [5] is not practical, since it requires disconnection
between the module and the microinverter. This way, an LM-35
temperature sensor has been attached to the rear surface of the
module, and its voltage output has also been recorded. It is worth
mentioning that the temperature measurements using such a sen-
sor have been previously checked under different temperatures,
using the Voc method described in [5] as a reference, presenting
the maximum absolute error of 2.2 °C considering the range
from 42 to 64 °C.
The microinverter keeps the module operating around its
maximum power point; therefore, the operating current and
voltage are close to Impp and Vmpp , respectively. A challenging
topic is the fact that the calculation of Tc is strongly affected by
voltage variations, which is precisely what the MPPT system of
the microinverter performs in a regular basis, to locate the actual
maximum power point; the operating point is shifted using the
so-called perturb and observe algorithm. As a result, the operat-
ing current and voltage present variations even though G and Tc
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IEEE JOURNAL OF PHOTOVOLTAICS, VOL. 10, NO. 2, MARCH 2020
TABLE XII
EXPERIMENTAL DATA POINTS CLOSE TO NOCT CONDITION
Fig. 10. Percent errors on Tc for each method: MPPT.
are constant. Voltage variations up to 1.2 V (peak-to-peak) have
been observed during the tests, which is sufficient to cause the
computed Tc to change as much as 10 °C.
To overcome this issue, the data have been filtered based
on the voltage values. A moving average of voltage has been
calculated based on the previous ten measured points (10 min).
Then, a filter has been applied removing the data referring to
the voltage values presenting +/−1% of the deviation from the
moving average. Such a filtering allowed the data to be free of
the steep variations in voltage introduced by the MPPT system,
whereas not distorting the data, since the usable points have
not been changed, the average values have been used only as a
reference to remove spurious points, not to reshape the data used
to compute G and Tc .
When analyzing the data registered by the acquisition system,
one particular day presented the interesting results: the measured
values of Impp , Vmpp , reference G, and reference Tc were quite
coincident with NOCT datasheet information. Eight sequential
points have been selected and are provided in Table XII.
Using the Impp and Vmpp data from Table XII to compute
G and Tc , the maximum error of 2.95% on G has been found,
referring to point number 8. The errors on Tc , computed by all
the methods studied in this article, are illustrated in Fig. 10. It
can be observed that the responses of the proposed method (14)
and of 4-Par,B, regarding their use to compute Tc , are almost
coincident for all the points. Furthermore, these two methods
present the smallest error in Fig. 10. A better view of the errors
ABE et al.: COMPUTING SOLAR IRRADIANCE AND AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES
Fig. 11. Comparing the proposed Pmpp (14) with 4-Par,B: Microinverter case.
provided by such two methods is presented in Fig. 11. It is worth
mentioning that solving (14) for Tc is remarkably less complex
than computing and translating the SDM parameters by means
of the 4-Par,B combination, in addition to solve (2) for Tc .
V. CONCLUSION
A simple equation to estimate G from the operating Impp
has been proposed, presenting good results in tests considering
the datasheet information and at the experimental phase. Six
approaches to compute Tc from the Vmpp have been analyzed,
also taking the datasheets of PV modules as reference. The
methods have been tested using the simulated curves as well
as experimentally, by means of the measured curves and actual
operation of a PV module along with a microinverter. It has
been found that, for all the methods studied, the absolute error
on Tc increases as the irradiance differs from GSTC . The simple
calculation of (16) and (14) allowed the estimationof G and Tc
based on the measurements of Vmpp and Impp with the average
absolute error below 4%, considering the irradiance range from
500 to 1000 W/m2 .
The authors are currently working on further research regard-
ing the use of such a method under low irradiance levels, as
well as with MPPT systems, dealing with the changes in the
operating levels of current and voltage introduced by the inverter.
In addition, the performance of (14) and (16) to compute G and
Tc over a period longer than one year is currently under analysis,
using data from a research platform.
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663
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