An overview of solar photovoltaic panel modeling based on analytical and experimental viewpoint

This paper provides a comprehensive review of available models of photovoltaic panel. Modeling and simulation of photovoltaic panel (PV) in virtual environment helps in designing and performance analysis of solar based power system. This paper analyses the currently available models from two different aspects. First aspect is based on electrical characteristics of PV panel using electrical equivalent circuit or through set of mathematical equations. The other aspect is based on the characteristics of PV panel under different environmental conditions. Environmental conditions include varying temperature and non-uniform solar irradiance due to partial shading. Varying environmental conditions causes continuous change in PV panel operating point corresponding to Maximum Power Point (MPP). Therefore an accurate PV panel model built with robust control that includes these environmental conditions will certainly improve the overall performance of the solar power plant. This paper can help researchers in selecting a specific objective based PV panel model out of several models available in literature. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.