Analytical modelling of high concentrator photovoltaic modules based on atmospheric parameters

PublishedJournal Article© 2015 Eduardo F. Fernández et al. The goal of this paper is to introduce a model to predict the maximum power of a high concentrator photovoltaic module. The model is based on simple mathematical expressions and atmospheric parameters. The maximum power of a HCPV module is estimated as a function of direct normal irradiance, cell temperature, and two spectral corrections based on air mass and aerosol optical depth. In order to check the quality of the model, a HCPV module was measured during one year at a wide range of operating conditions. The new proposed model shows an adequate match between actual and estimated data with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.67%, a mean absolute error (MAE) of 4.23 W, a mean bias error (MBE) of around 0%, and a determination coefficient (R 2) of 0.99.Partial funding for this study was provided through EPSRC funded BioCPV (EP/J000345/1) project. Also, this work is part of the project “Desenvolvemento de novos conceptos baseados en tecnoloxía de concentración fotovoltaica para a produción de enerxía eléctrica adaptados a distintas zonas climáticas,” through the program “Formación Posdoutoral do Plan Galego de Investigación, Innovación e Crecemento 2011–2015 (Plan I2C)” funded by the Xunta de Galicia and by the European Social Fund