University of San Carlos

EE/ECE Department
EE TECH 4
Name: Lataza, Mikhael Glen Group 3
Schedule: W 1:30 4:30

Date Performed: 07/27/16

Date Submitted: 08/02/16
Experiment No. 3

Photovoltaic Efficiency: Maximum Power Point

I. OBJECTIVES

To be able to determine the current-voltage (I-V) curve of a Photovoltaic (PV) module.

To be able to calculate the power-voltage (P-V) curve of a PV module.

To be able to determine the maximum power point (MPP) of a PV module.

II. MATERIALS

1 50 W PV Module

1 15 Variable Resistor

1 Digital Multi-meter

Connecting Wires

1 Analog Multi-meter

III. OVERVIEW
Real-World Applications
PV panels are becoming an increasingly common way to
generate power around the world for many different power
applications. This technology is still expensive when compared
to other sources of power so it is important to optimize the
efficiency of PV panels. This can be a challenge because as
weather conditions change (even cloud cover, see Figure 1), the
voltage and current in the circuit changes. Engineers have
designed inverters to vary the resistance and continuously find
new MPP in a circuit; this is called maximum power point
tracking (MPPT). An inverter can be hooked up to one or many
PV panels at a time. It is up to engineers to decide the right

Figure 1. Cloud shadow dilemma.

balance of cost and efficiency when including inverters in their designs. By understanding the

factors that affect electrical circuits and knowing how to control the elements in circuits, engineers
are able to design solar power systems that operate as efficiently as possible in different
environments with changing weather conditions.
Introduction
Solar energy technology is an emerging energy field that provides opportunities for
talented and bright engineers to make beneficial impacts on the environment while solving
intriguing engineering challenges. However, before attempting to design solar energy power
systems, engineers must understand fundamental electrical laws and equations and how they apply
to solar energy applications.
Background & Concepts
Every device, if it uses some electrical power source, such as electricity from a wall outlet,
batteries or solar panels, was designed by engineers based on two fundamental electrical equations,
Ohms law and the electrical power equation, which are also necessary for calculating the
maximum power point of PV panels.

When a PV panel receives solar radiation, it produces power, the product of current and
voltage. To find the highest possible power output for a panel under a certain set of conditions
(amount of sunlight, temperature, etc.), the resistance in the circuit can be changed systematically
by small increments, as shown in Table 1.

Trial #

Collected Data

Calculated

Voltage (V)

Current (A)

Power (W)

0.000

0.124

0.000

0.624

0.122

0.076

1.248

0.120

0.150

1.872

0.118

0.222

2.497

0.116

0.291

3.121

0.114

0.357

3.745

0.112

0.421

4.369

0.110

0.482

4.700

0.103

0.485

10 [MPP]

4.934

0.100

0.491

11

5.165

0.091

0.472

12

5.336

0.085

0.455

13

5.566

0.078

0.432

14

5.927

0.057

0.337

15

6.070

0.045

0.270

16

6.113

0.037

0.225

17

6.137

0.034

0.209

18

6.210

0.025

0.156

19

6.294

0.020

0.123

20

6.373

0.004

0.027

21

6.389

0.002

0.013

22

6.407

0.000

0.000

Table 1. Sample voltage and current data from PV panel trials, and calculated power data.

The values in Table 1 were obtained by using a potentiometer to vary the resistance in the
PV circuit, which directly affects the voltage and current in the circuit. A potentiometer is a small
device that changes the resistance with the turn of a knob. The changing resistance affects the

overall power output of the panel. In this example, the short circuit current, ISC = 0.124 A (or
current when V = 0), and open circuit voltage, VOC = 6.407 V (or voltage when I = 0). The MPP
can also be found as the point at which the product of the current and voltage equal the greatest
value. The power calculation shows that the MPP has a voltage of VMPP = 4.934, a current of IMPP
= 0.100 A, with the power, P = 0.491 W.
This data can be visualized more clearly in a graph. Graphing the current and voltage
creates a curve that is referred to as an I-V curve. The blue line in the Figure 2 graph is an I-V
curve. The current is plotted in amps (A) on the left y-axis. The voltage is plotted in volts (V) on
the x-axis. On the same graph, the power for each current-voltage combination is plotted in pink.
The power is plotted in watts (W) on the right y-axis. This power curve clearly shows the maximum
power point. A red line identifies the voltage and current associated with the maximum power
point.

Figure 2. Example I-V (or maximum power point) curve.

Vocabulary and Definitions

Efficiency

The ratio of the useful energy delivered by a dynamic

system to the energy supplied to it.

I-V curve

The curve produced when the value of a panels

current is plotted with respect to different voltages,
from 0 to Voc (I = current, in amps; V = voltage, in
volts)

Maximum power point (MPP)

The point on a power (I-V) curve that has the highest

value of the product of its corresponding voltage and
current, or the highest power output.

Maximum power point tracker (MPPT)

A device that continually finds the MPP of a solar

panel or array.

Open circuit voltage (VOC)

Voltage available from a power source in an open

circuit, I = 0.

Photovoltaic cell

A cell of silicone that produces a current when

exposed to light.

Potentiometer

A device that allows the user to vary the electrical

resistances in a circuit.

Short circuit current (ISC)

Current drawn from a power source if no load is

present in the circuit, V = 0.

IV. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

The circuit diagram below was used to measure the I-V curve of the PV module. The digital
multi-meter was used to measure the current from the PV module; and the analog multi-meter was
used to measure the output voltage. In this experiment, a 15 , 50 W variable resistor was used to
vary the output current and voltage. The variable resistor was also capable of absorbing the
maximum power output of 50 W.

50 W
PV

DIGITAL
0-10 A

+
0-15

ANALOG
-

Figure 3. Experimental setup for measuring the voltage, current, and power of the PV module.

The picture below is the actual implementation of the circuit diagram. It shows the PV
module (top), analog multi-meter (bottom left), digital multi-meter (bottom left), and the variable
resistor (bottom right).

Figure 4. Actual implementation of the circuit diagram.

The figure below shows the specifications of the PV module that was used in the
experiment. It is worthy to note that the specifications are measured at Standard Testing Conditions
(STC) irradiance of 1000 W/m2; air mass coefficient of 1.5; and cell temperature of 25 C.

Figure 5. Specifications of the PV module.

V. COLLECTED DATA TABLE

On each trial, the variable resistors knob was turned to change its resistance, then the
output voltage and current measurements were recorded. The power output for each trial was also
calculated using P = IV. Subsequently, the voltage, current, and power were tabulated in the table
below.
Collected Data
Voltage (V)

Current (A)

Calculated
Power (W)

0.0

2.780

0.000

3.0

2.770

8.310

4.6

2.735

12.581

8.9

2.719

24.199

10.0

2.661

26.610

6 [MPP]

12.0

2.536

30.432

13.0

2.315

30.095

13.5

2.138

28.863

14.0

1.936

27.104

10

15.0

1.774

26.610

11

15.0

1.719

25.785

12

15.4

1.553

23.916

13

15.8

1.383

21.851

14

16.0

1.226

19.616

15

16.0

1.145

18.320

16

16.0

1.107

17.712

17

20.8

0.000

0.000

Trial #

Table 2. Voltage and current data from PV panel trials, and calculated power data.

VI. GRAPHS
The data from Table 2 are graphed in the figure below. The left vertical axis is for the
current scale, and the right vertical axis is for the power scale.
From the graph, the MPP can be easily determined by looking at tip of the P-V curve. The
MPP characteristics are VMP = 12.0 V, IMP = 2.536 A, and P = 30.432 W. Furthermore, by looking
at the intercepts of the I-V curve, ISC = 2.78 A, and VOC = 20.8 V.

Maximum Power Point

Current

Power

35
30.432
30

25

12, 2.536

20
1.5
15
1

Power (W)

Current (A)

2.5

10

0.5

0
0

10

15

20

25

Voltage (V)

Figure 6. I-V and P-V curve of the PV module.

Using the cftool of MATLAB, the best-fit I-V curve is determined. The best-fit I-V curve
is plotted (blue line) along with the I-V data points (red dots) in Figure 7. Using the equation P =
IV, the best-fit P-V curve is calculated, and is plotted (blue line) along with the P-V data points
(red dots) in Figure 8.
Using the two graphs below, the MPP can be found: VMP = 12.8018 V, IMP = 2.3425 A,
and P = 29.9883 W. From the intercepts of I-V curve, ISC = 2.7629 A, and VOC = 17.4382 V.

Figure 7. I-V data points and best-fit curve.

Figure 8. P-V data points and best-fit curve.

VII. DATA/GRAPH ANALYSIS

The short circuit current, open circuit voltage, and the MPP characteristics from the
measurements can be summarized in the table below.
ISC
VOC
IMP
VMP
PMAX

2.78 A
20.8 V
2.536 A
12.0 V
30.432 W

Table 3. Measured characteristics of PV module.

After gathering measurements, it is often necessary to create a model of the data. Here, the
I-V curve is modeled using the cftool of MATLAB. In modeling the I-V curve, due to the
exponential nature of the p-n junction in the PV module, the following is used as the general
equation of the model. Next thing to do is to determine the coefficients of the equation.
() = +
The figure below is a screenshot of the cftool after computing the coefficients: a, b, c, and
d. With Bisquare Robust level and Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithm, the following results are
found. From the results, the I-V data fits well with an exponential model.

Figure 9. Results of determining the coefficients.

Hence, the I-V equation of the PV module is complete and the P-V equation can be
calculated subsequently. Their graphs are in Figures 7 and 8.
() = 0.004106 0.3757 + 2.767 0.002206
() = () = (0.004106 0.3757 + 2.767 0.002206 )
From the two models, the characteristics of the PV module could be determined. In the
table below, the characteristics taken from the data and model are shown and compared. All but
the open circuit voltage (VOC) have percentage difference below 10%.
Characteristic
ISC
VOC
IMP
VMP
PMAX

Data
2.78 A
20.8 V
2.536 A
12.0 V
30.432 W

Model
2.7629 A
17.4382 V
2.3425 A
12.8018 V
29.9883 W

% Difference
0.62
16.16
4.08
6.68
1.46

Table 4. Comparison of the characteristics of PV module taken from data and model.

VIII. CONCLUSION
Therefore, the I-V curve of the PV module fits an exponential model with ISC = 2.7629 A
and VOC = 17.4382 V. The P-V curve has MPP of (12.0 V, 30.432 W) which are way lower than
those in the specifications (17.5, 50 W). This must be due to less irradiation and other
environmental factors while the experiment was conducted. It was also not ensured that the STC
were met while the experiment was conducted.

IX. PICTURES