Performance evaluation of a PV module under climatic conditions of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

In this paper, the performance characteristics of a photovoltaic (PV) module are modeled numerically and validated experimentally for the typical climatic conditions of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The electrical model is developed using EES software including all the important parameters like cell temperature, maximum power point current, maximum power point voltage, electrical power, and maximum power point efficiency. The model results were compared with the experimental values obtained by exposing the PV panel to the local environmental conditions of Dhahran. The variation of cell temperature, maximum power point current, voltage, maximum power and efficiency of PV module was recorded for a typical day and the effect of climatic conditions including solar irradiance, ambient temperature and wind speed was quantified. Finally, the modeled results were found to be in close agreement with the experimental values with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.98 and root mean square error of e = 5.2% for the overall efficiency and power output.