Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Performance of Single- and Multi-Diode PV Solar Modules

This paper presents a comparative analysis of single, double, and three-diode models for commercial and industrial photovoltaic (PV) cells. The efficiency of a PV system depends on various factors, including fill factor, material effect, temperature coefficient, interconnections, module degradation, solar irradiation, module temperature, soiling, potential induced degradation, PV module tilt angle, parasitic resistance, and shading effect. The results show that adding diodes decreases the maximum allowable power taken from a PV cell, resulting in the single-diode model with the highest efficiency of 99.9% at STC. As the temperature increases, the voltage decreases and the maximum power decreases to 4.044 watts/°C, while with the rise in irradiation, the maximum power value increases to 80.04 watts/100w/m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . A rise in temperature affects voltage and current values, while irradiation affects current values. An increase in series resistance decreases maximum power values by 216.785 watts/0.1-ohm, while shunt resistance increases maximum power by 0.0725 watts/100 ohm without significant change in current value. <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">P_max</i> , <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">V_max</i> , and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">I_max</i> values increase with a decrease in shading value. Two and three-diodes respond more effectively than single diodes at the lowest and maximum shading values. Total-Cross-Tied configurations perform more efficiently in various connections, while HC and BL connections have comparable I-V performance. However, BL and HC have low maximum power. MATLAB software is used for modeling and simulation, assisting researchers in understanding factors affecting solar PV system efficiency and diode models.