Publications Details

Improvement and validation of a transient model to predict photovoltaic module temperature

Luketa-Hanlin, Amanda L.; Stein, Joshua S.

Module temperature is modeled using a transient heat-flow model. Module temperature predicted in this fashion is important in the calculation of cell temperature, a vital input in performance modeling. Parameters important to the model are tested for sensitivity, and optimized to a single day of measured module temperature using simultaneous non-linear least squares regression. These optimized parameters are then tested for accuracy using a year's worth of data for one location. The results obtained from this analysis are compared with modeled data from a different site, as well as to results obtained using a steadystate model. We find that the transient model best captures the variability in module temperature, and that the transient model works best when calibrated for a specific location.