Modeling of non-uniformity losses in integrated large-area solar cell modules

We present numerical modeling of realistically nonuniform large-area thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules using PSpice software. Each module is represented as a set of sub-cells with individual PV parameters fluctuating. We simulated the module current-voltage characteristic for different statistical and geometrical parameter distributions. We found that i) Geometrical distribution of nonuniformities across the module has only a minor effect on its efficiency; ii) Module statistical characteristics exhibit non-trivial scaling dependencies vs. module size; iii) For a given parameter distribution relative mismatch loss is independent of the module size; iv) Elements of low resistance strongly interfere with nonuniformity effects offering a possibility to optimize combined nonuniformity and ohmic losses.