A comparative study on solar array parameter extraction methods

This paper presents a comparative study on different solar array parameter extraction methods such as a modified Newton-Raphson-based technique proposed in this work and two other popular techniques such as Bouzidi’s Newton-Raphson method and Villalva’s iterative method. A single-diode-five-parameter model is considered in this study for modelling the solar (PV) panel. The parameters of interest such as series resistance, shunt resistance, diode ideality factor, dark saturation current and photo-generated current are extracted under standard test conditions (STC) using open circuit voltage, short circuit current and maximum power point voltage and current from manufacturer’s data-sheet. Comparative assessment of the above parameters extraction methods envisages that the modified Newton-Raphson extraction method provides accurate parameters with simple calculations.