Numerical simulation study of the sensitivity of solar cell current output to environmental changes

Abstract

The study constructs a solar cell simulation model and tracks the maximum power output from the solar cell using the MPPT algorithm. Simulation simulation experiments are conducted to analyze the effects of changes in environmental factors such as season, weather, light, temperature, wind speed, etc. on the current and power output of solar cells. The total output power and the peak output power of the solar cell are the largest in summer, which are 7407.69kW and 114.93kW, respectively, and the total output power and the peak output power of the solar cell are the smallest in fall, which are 1748.96kW and 31.58kW, respectively. The peak power output of the solar cell is the largest in sunny days, which is 107.56kW, and the smallest in rainy days, which is 37.06kW. The total solar cell power output is maximum (7896.93kW) on clear to cloudy days and minimum (1955.27kW) on rainy days. The solar cell output current and maximum power values decreased with decreasing light intensity. The ambient temperature has little effect on the short circuit current, the output current increases slightly with increasing temperature, the open circuit voltage decreases drastically with increasing temperature and the maximum output power decreases with increasing temperature. The maximum output power of the solar cell increases with increasing wind speed.

Keywords: mppt algorithm; maximum power tracking; solar cell; environmental sensitivity