Influence of Ambient Temperature and Solar Radiations on Photovoltaic Module’s Temperature and Power Output

Abstract

The influence of ambient temperature and solar radiations on variation of photovoltaic module temperature and power output was measured using four different photovoltaic module technologies, namely polycrystalline, monocrystalline, amorphous and thin film. The experimental setup
was made by installing the whole system over the roof of the departmental building. The data was rerecorded in the three winter months from
January to March 2016. The hourly average daily ambient temperature was 29.1°C, global solar radiation 727W/m2, wind speed 2.5m/sec and
relative humidity 84.0% during analysis period. It is revealed that monocrystalline module exhibited 0.6, 1.2 and 1.7°C more temperature than
polycrystalline, amorphous and thin film modules respectively. The polycrystalline and monocrystalline produced higher voltage outputs when
the module temperature was less than standard test conditions, whereas, the amorphous and thin film performed well when their temperature
was slightly above standard test conditions. The module temperature is found directionally proportional to the ambient temperature, and output
voltage is inversely proportional to the ambient temperature. The polycrystalline produced 41.6%, monocrystalline 38.6%, amorphous 32.0%
and thin film 40.5% of their rated power output. It is revealed that polycrystalline performed well and amorphous poor than their counterpart
modules during winter conditions.