Practical method for estimating the power and energy delivered by photovoltaic modules operating under non-standard conditions

This work describes a method developed for estimating the energy delivered by building integrated photovoltaics systems operating under non-standard conditions of irradiance and temperature. The method is based on calculation of the maximum power (P-Gmax) supplied by the modules array as a function of irradiance and ambient temperature, achieved by simulating its I-V and P-V curves using an algorithm which needs only the performance parameters supplied by the manufacturers. The energy generated by the PV system is estimated from monthly average values of P-Gmax calculated for using monthly average values of ambient temperature and irradiance obtained from data measured during 2years. The method is applied to crystalline Si modules and tested by comparing the simulated I-V and P-V curves with those obtained by outdoor measurements as well as for comparing the energy produced during the years 2009 and 2010 with a 3.6kWp building integrated photovoltaics system installed at the Universidad Nacional located in the city of Bogota, Colombia, at 4 degrees 35 latitude and 2.580m altitude. The contrast of the simulated I-V and P-V curves for two different types of commercial Si-modules with those experimentally obtained under real conditions indicated that the simulation method is reliably. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.