The influence of the measurement environment on the accuracy of the extraction of the physical parameters of solar cells

This article concerns the influence of measurement conditions on the extraction of a solar cell's equivalent circuit parameters. Influences previously not investigated are considered, thus helping to define suitable measurement strategies. The influences of measurement environments are investigated, as is the influence of the fitting algorithm chosen. It is shown that the number of measurement points for the current-voltage characteristic can have an important effect on the accuracy of the parameters extracted. The stability of the system is of minor importance, as long as the variations in the measurement conditions are monitored. We also show that the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm using a least squares error criterion and a hybrid algorithm employing an area criterion outperform other choices of fitting algorithm.