Parameter extraction of photovoltaic modules using a heuristic iterative algorithm

The single diode Rsh-model is considered to be an accurate and time-efficient modeling method for photovoltaic (PV) modules. However, the implicit equation in the model increases the complexity of solution. In this paper, after analyzing the parameters on the electrical characteristics of PV modules, a pure heuristic iterative method is proposed to extract the five parameters and to solve the implicit voltage and current equation simultaneously. Only three electrical key points specified in the manufacturer's nameplate together with the Shockley equation are useful. Meanwhile, some pure heuristic strategies are used to minimize the error of the model curve. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the method, parameters of three different PV modules are extracted, i.e., polycrystalline, mono-crystalline, and thin-film silicon module. The results show competitive and superior performance to the De Soto model and analytic algorithms in terms of accuracy and computation speed, especially a-Si PV cell types. In addition, 99.45% of PV modules from California Energy Commission (CEC) database are identified successfully to verify the robustness. Further, the field data also indicate that the proposed algorithm can used to predict the real-time generation power of a PV power station at various operating conditions. Therefore, the proposed method can be an effective and efficient alternative for parameter extraction of all kinds of PV modules and arrays.