Post-processing data of measured I-V curves of photovoltaic devices

An efficient and reliable characterization of PV devices is paramount for the establishment of new PV installations and for evaluation of the performance of the existent ones. In order to analyze the electrical performance of photovoltaic devices it is essential the determination of the characteristic current versus voltage (I-V) curve from which important information about several parameters of the PV generator can be obtained. The objective of this work is to present an accurate and reliable post-processing method for measured I-V curves (raw data) of photovoltaic devices. In order to implement this post-processing method in-house software (which is described in this work) was developed to post-process I-V curves of any PV device. This software allows the determination of several parameters from a measured I-V curve, as well as its translation to any irradiance and temperature conditions. The post-processing method has been tested in a wide range of raw data I-V curves related to modules based on different technologies. The results have shown a very good level of reliability and accuracy for traditional crystalline silicon and thin film devices. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.