An Accurate Analytical Approach for the Parameterization of the Single Diode Model of Photovoltaic Cell

A single diode model with five parameters is the simplest and robust approach for modeling a photovoltaic (PV) module in a simulated environment. These parameters need to be accurately extracted from the specifications given in the datasheet of the PV module such that the simulation model should exhibit the same characteristics as the actual measurements. A definite set of five independent equations, that should represent the characteristics of the PV module as accurately as possible, is needed to solve for these five parameters. In literature, the first four equations are easily created from the key data points on the characteristic curve given in the datasheet of the PV module. The main challenge however is the formulation of the fifth equation. The approaches found in literature have inherent inaccuracies due to some approximations or iterative techniques leading to discrepancy in the simulated model. This paper presents a unique analytical approach for the formulation of the fifth equation which yields the most accurate single diode model. As evident from the results, the proposed method is superior to not just the single diode model approaches but also to the double diode ones in simulating the characteristics of the PV module with least error.