Temperature Dependent Photovoltaic (PV) Efficiency and Its Effect on PV Production in the World - A Review

Solar cell performance decreases with increasing temperature, fundamentally owing to increased internal carrier recombination rates, caused by increased carrier concentrations. The operating temperature plays a key role in the photovoltaic conversion process. Both the electrical efficiency and the power output of a photovoltaic (PV) module depend linearly on the operating temperature. The various correlations proposed in the literature represent simplified working equations which can be apply to PV modules or PV arrays mounted on free-standing frames, PV-Thermal collectors, and building integrated photovoltaic arrays, respectively. The electrical performance is primarily influenced by the material of PV used. Numerous correlations for cell temperature which have appeared in the literature involve basic environmental variables and numerical parameters which are material or system dependent. In this paper, a brief discussion is presented regarding the operating temperature of one-sun commercial grade silicon-based solar cells/modules and its effect upon the electrical performance of photovoltaic installations. Generally, the performance ratio decreases with latitude because of temperature. However, regions with high altitude have higher performance ratios due to low temperature, like, southern Andes, Himalaya region, and Antarctica. PV modules with less sensitivity to temperature are preferable for the high temperature regions and more responsive to temperature will be more effective in the low temperature regions. The geographical distribution of photovoltaic energy potential considering the effect of irradiation and ambient temperature on PV system performance is considered. (c) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.