Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

A practical eld study of various solar cells on their performance in Malaysia

Nowshad Amin a, *, Chin Wen Lung b, Kamaruzzaman Sopian b
a
b

Dept. of Electrical Electronic and System Engineering, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia
Solar Energy Research Institute, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Available online 3 January 2009

A practical eld study has been carried out with the intention to analyze and compare the performance
of various types of commercially available solar panels under Malaysias weather. Four different types of
solar panels, such as mono-crystalline silicon, multi-crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon and copper
indiumdiselenide (CIS) solar panels are used for the practical eld study. A number of performance
related parameters have been collected using data logger over a period of three consecutive days in the
hope that this would give some initial information on the real performance of different solar panels.
Results show that mono-crystalline silicon and multi-crystalline silicon solar module perform better
when they are under hot sun, whereas the CIS and triple junction amorphous silicon solar panel perform
better when it is cloudy and has diffused sunshine. Furthermore, the efciency of crystalline silicon solar
panel has been found to drop when the temperature rises higher. This phenomenon does not appear in
the CIS and amorphous silicon solar panels, which shows that the performance of CIS and amorphous
silicon solar cells are better in terms of power conversion efciency and overall performance ratio. Better
performance of thin lm solar cells like amorphous silicon and CIS are observed from the initial results,
which draws attention over the selection of solar panels and also may encourage the usage of these in
tropical weather like Malaysia.
2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
PV performance
Silicon solar cell
CIS solar cell
Field test

1. Introduction
The earth receives about 1000 pW of energy from the sun every
year. This amount is enough to cover the Earths energy demand for
over 1000 times. Capturing sunlight and turning them into electricity for daily usage is a very good idea, however the technologies
have its own limitations and problems which must be solved before
they could be implemented in large scale. Since the development of
early PV cells, the very rst photovoltaic system has been applied in
Malaysia in early 1980s. The applications of photovoltaic were
mainly concentrated on stand-alone systems, especially for rural
electrication program. The rst pilot system was installed and
commissioned in 1998 by Malaysias National Power Company
(known as Tenaga Nasional Berhad @ TNB) as a pilot project to
determine whether PV is suitable to be used in Malaysia. Up to date,
PV has gained a strong support to be implemented by the
government but support is less from the private sectors and users.
This is due to the high capital cost to install the system and long
payback time from the photovoltaic system.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nowshad@eng.ukm.my (N. Amin).
0960-1481/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2008.12.005

The main objective of the study is to demonstrate the real

performance of commercially available solar cells with some
information in their differences in power production under
Malaysias real weather condition. It is well known that the efciency and output power of the solar cells change with temperature
and solar irradiance level [13]. From the acquired data on the
variation of performance among the solar cells, a recommendation
can be made on the usage of photovoltaic applications in Malaysia
and that can serve as guidance for future users who will be interested to use it as an alternative energy source.
2. Methodology: parameter acquisition
In order to calculate and understand the performance of
a photovoltaic module, a few parameters which can be obtained
from the data logger is needed. These related parameters are
categorized into module parameter and environmental parameters.
2.1. Module parameters
There are four important parameters which must be noted in
order to calculate the quality of the photovoltaic module. This
includes the maximum voltage, Vmax, maximum current, Imax,
short-circuit current, Isc, and open circuit voltage, Voc.

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

p-Si
a-Si
c-Si

pm
7.
30

pm
6.
30

5.
30

pm

pm
4.
30

pm
3.
30

2.
30

pm

pm
1.
30

pm
.3
0

am
12

.3
0
11

.3
0

am

am
10

9.
30

8.
30

7.
30

am

CIS

am

Output Power (W)

1940

Time
Fig. 1. Average power output hourly for day 1.

The maximum power, ll factor, energy conversion efciency

and module conversion efciency reveal the fact of how well a solar
module works and is calculated by using the equation below:

3. Results and discussion

At rst, the output power of each solar module was found to
increase steadily with the solar irradiance. This can be seen in Fig. 1
where all solar modules show increment in output power with
time and peak at 12.30pm. The installation capacity of monocrystalline silicon solar panel is higher than any other kinds, and
thats why the output power shows the highest value before
comparison with normalized values. CIS panel, in contrast, has the
lowest Wp value. The data for 7.30pm could not be obtained
because of heavy rain.
Fig. 2 shows the solar irradiance level of day 1. The irradiance at
7.30am is higher than 8.30am, but the output power is much lower at
that time. This is due to the angle of irradiance and also the xed
position of the solar modules. The solar irradiance peaks at noon,
which corresponds to the peak output power in the solar modules.
Heavy clouds and high wind speed at 2.30pm caused the output
power to drop drastically. The module temperature graph is shown in
Fig. 3, it shows that all module temperature stays above the ambient
temperature for most of the time. This is due to the heat which is
converted from the sunlight when photovoltaic process takes place.
From Fig. 4, it can be seen that the CIS solar module high output
efciency in high and low light condition. However, this only
happens when the CIS module reaches certain temperature. Monocrystalline silicon solar module had shown good output efciency in
high and low light condition. The performance of amorphous silicon
and multi-crystalline silicon module are almost the same, with
amorphous silicon leading a little in high and low light condition.
In day 2, the power output in the morning was found to be very
low due to heavy clouds, which is followed by heavy rain for over
2 h. This can be seen in Fig. 5. After the rain, the output power
quickly increased to the peak value at about 2.30pm. Mono-crystalline silicon module has the highest output power as the installed
capacity is the highest. Due to the sudden rain at around 10.30 am
and 11.30 am, no data could be obtained.
Fig. 6 shows the solar irradiance of day 2. The solar irradiance in
the morning and afternoon is relatively low and it peaks at 2.30pm.

Pmax Vmax  Imax

Fill Factor; FF Vmax  Imax =Voc  Isc
Power Output Efficiency; h Pmea =Pmax  100
Average Module Efficiency; h FF  Vave  Iave =A  G
Performance ratio Pmea =Pmax =G=1000

Time
Fig. 2. Solar irradiance vs time (day 1).

30
pm
7.

30
pm
6.

m
30
p
5.

m
30
p
4.

m
30
p
3.

pm
30
2.

30
pm
1.

m
30
p

12
.

am

11
.

30

m
30
a
10
.

30
am
9.

0a
m
8.
3

0a
m

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
7.
3

Irradiance (W/m2)

where A area of solar cell; G solar irradiance.

The average power of the module is calculated by multiplying
the measured current and voltages. This value is not constant and
depends on many factors like solar irradiance and temperature of
the module.
The performance of each solar module cannot be obtained by
just looking at the power output of the modules. Therefore the
power output efciency which has been normalized to the ratings
of each module should be used to compare them. The output efciency shows how much power is actually generated at a specic
time over the installed capacity of the module.
The module efciency is calculated by dividing the mean power
output over the duration recorded over the power input from the
sun. The power input from the sun is calculated by multiplying the
solar irradiance power with the total active area of the solar
module. By this, the average module efciency could be determined. The value calculated is average value and might be different
from the on given in the data sheet.
The performance ratio calculation is calculated by dividing the
power output ratio to the irradiance ratio. The values given in the
Standard Test Condition is used in this calculation to make a fair
comparison between each module. It also shows which types of
solar cells are actually performing better than the others.

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

1941

p-Si
c-Si
ambient

Temperature (C)

60
50

a-si
CIS

40
30
20
10
pm

pm
7.
30

pm

6.
30

pm

5.
30

pm

4.
30

pm

3.
30

pm

2.
30

pm

1.
30

.3
0

am
12

.3
0

am
11

10

.3
0

am
9.
30

am
8.
30

7.
30

am

Time
Fig. 3. Comparison of ambient temperature with module temperature (day 1).

The temperature in the morning could not be obtained. This could

be due to surrounding temperature which is lower than the digital
thermometers sensing ability. Therefore the graph as can be seen
in Fig. 7 starts at 12.30pm. All solar module shows higher
temperature compared to the ambient temperature although the
solar irradiance level was low. This is because the energy from the
light is converted to heat when it struck the surface of the solar
module.
The normalized output efciency of each solar module can be
seen in Fig. 8. Multi-crystalline silicon solar module has shown
better output efciency in day 2. The CIS solar module has also
shown a better output efciency compared to amorphous silicon
solar module while the mono-crystalline silicon module shows low
output efciency. This is due to the fact that mono-crystalline
silicon solar cell performs poorly in low light condition.
In day 3, the data obtained is rather complete compared to rst
and second day before. As can be seen in Fig. 9, the output power of
every solar module shows increment in output power almost
proportion to the solar irradiance. Amorphous silicon solar module
produces more output power compared to the multi-crystalline
silicon module although the installed capacity is a little lower.
The solar irradiance graph for day 3 in Fig. 10 is almost similar to
that obtained for a normal sunny day. A sudden increase of irradiance level at 3.30pm may have been caused by some light clouding
before that. Fig. 11 shows the comparison of module temperature
and ambient temperature for day 2. The temperature of the
modules changes unexpectedly in the afternoon and had gone
down near to ambient temperature. This phenomenon may be due
to the blowing wind, which creates a cooling effect to the modules.
The cooling effects are dependant on the wind speed, wind
temperature, and wind humidity. From the normalized output
efciency graph in Fig. 12, it can be seen that mono-crystalline

silicon module is not performing well. The output efciency of

multi-crystalline silicon is found higher compared to the monocrystalline silicon. On the other hand, as expected the output
efciency of amorphous silicon is always lower than the CIS type.
4. Analysis for multi-crystalline silicon solar module
Fig. 13 shows the output power of the multi-crystalline silicon
solar module with the change of irradiance level. It can be seen that
the power output is higher as the irradiance level is high. Most of
the data point lies in the bottom left of the graph as the weather
condition for all 3 days were cloudy.
The temperature of the solar module increases with irradiance
level. As the suns irradiance is higher, more energy is absorbed by
the solar module and more heat will be generated. Fig. 14 shows the
output power of the multi-crystalline silicon solar module with
module temperature. It can be seen that the output power is less
when the module temperature is high.
5. Analysis for mono-crystalline silicon solar module
Fig. 15 shows the output power of the mono-crystalline silicon
solar module with the change of irradiance level. It can be seen that
the output power increases with solar irradiance. The output power
of mono-crystalline silicon solar module becomes highest when
the solar irradiance level is around 1000 W/m2.
Fig. 16 shows the performance of mono-crystalline silicon solar
with module temperature. The output power was expected to drop
as the module temperature reaches a high value. During the eld
study, the module temperature was lower than expected due to
cloudy days. Further more, the modules temperature is not
expected to go up very high in tropical climate.

p-Si

100

a-Si

80

c-Si

60

CIS

40
20

Time
Fig. 4. Normalized output efciency vs time (day 1).

pm
30
6.

pm
30
5.

pm
30
4.

pm
30
3.

pm
30
2.

pm
30
1.

0p
m
.3
12

0a
m
.3
11

0a
m
10

.3

am
30
9.

am
30
8.

30

am

0
7.

Efficiency (%)

120

1942

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

Output Power (W)

60
50

p-Si

40

a-Si
c-Si

30

CIS

20
10

pm
7.
30

pm
6.
30

pm
5.
30

pm
4.
30

pm
3.
30

pm
2.
30

pm
1.
30

pm

12

.3
0
11

.3
0

am

am
.3
0

am
10

9.
30

am
8.
30

7.
30

am

Time
Fig. 5. Average power output hourly for day 2.

6. Analysis for amorphous silicon solar module

due to the fact that CIS solar cells have good light absorption
properties like amorphous silicon solar cells. As the irradiance level
increases, the output power is almost up to the rated value. In the
eld study, the output power of the CIS solar module had almost
reached the maximum power output in some cases.
The output power changes with module temperature of the CIS
solar module, which can be seen in Fig. 20. The gure is very similar
to Fig. 18 of the amorphous silicon module. The output power of the
CIS solar module is almost un-affected by the increasing module
temperature. In fact, the power output is at peaks when the module
temperature is the highest.

Fig. 17 shows the output power of amorphous silicon solar

module with the change of solar irradiance level. It can be seen that
the power output of the solar module is high even though the
irradiance level is low. This is because amorphous silicon solar cells
have good light absorption compared to the bulk silicon solar cells.
In Fig. 18 the output power of the amorphous silicon solar
module with temperature can be compared. The amorphous silicon
solar module does not show any drop in output power although the
module temperature is high. This shows that the amorphous silicon
solar cells can withstand the heat better compared to the bulk
silicon solar cells. Amorphous silicon solar modules temperature is
also found to be lower due to the larger module size. Larger module
size makes the heat dissipation better and thus the solar module is
cooler that the other solar module.

8. Module efciency analysis

The module efciency is shown in Fig. 21 is calculated from the
data obtained from the eld study. The values are much lower if
compared to the expected value under the Standard Test Conditions. This is because the module efciency value given under the
Standard Test Conditions is the maximum efciency of the module
and is being calculated for only one data. Under the eld condition,
the varying solar irradiance and temperature affects the performance and efciency of the solar cells. Further more, the values

7. Analysis for CIS solar module

1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0p
m
7.
3

0p
m
6.
3

0p
m
5.
3

0p
m
4.
3

0p
m
3.
3

0p
m
2.
3

0p
m
1.
3

0p
m

12
.3

m
0a

11

.3

m
0a
.3
10

0a
m
9.
3

8.
3

7.
3

0a
m

0
0a
m

Irradiance (w/m2)

Fig. 19 shows the output power of the CIS solar module with the
change of solar irradiance level. CIS solar module has shown the
high power output although the solar irradiance level is low. This is

Time

50
40
30

Time
Fig. 7. Comparison of ambient temperature with module temperature (day 2).

pm
30

pm
30
6.

30

pm

a-Si
CIS

5.

30
4.

pm
30
3.

pm
30
2.

pm
30
1.

12
.3
0p

11
.3
0a

m
10
.3
0a

am
30
9.

am
30
8.

30

am

pm

p-Si
c-Si
ambient

10

7.

20

7.

Temperature (C)

Fig. 6. Solar irradiance vs time (day 2).

1943

90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

pm
30

pm

7.

30

pm

6.

5.
30

pm

pm

4.
30

pm

3.
30

2.
30

pm

pm

1.
30

.3
0

am
12

.3
0

am
11

.3
0

am
10

9.
30

8.
30

7.
30

am

p-Si
a-Si
c-Si
CIS

am

Efficiency (%)

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

Time

Output Power (W)

Fig. 8. Normalized output efciency vs time (day 2).

70
60

p-Si
a-Si
c-Si
CIS

50
40
30
20
10

pm
7.

30

pm
30

pm

6.

30

pm

5.

4.

30
3.

30

pm

pm
30
2.

12

1.

.3

30

0p

pm

m
.3

11

.3

0a

m
0a

am

10

9.

30

am
30
8.

7.

30

am

Time

1500
1000
500

pm
30
7.

pm
6.

30

pm
30
5.

pm
4.

30

pm
3.

30

pm
30
2.

12

1.

.3

30

pm

m
0p

m
0a
.3

11

10

9.

.3

0a

am
30

am
8.

7.

30

am

0
30

Irradiance (w/m2)

Fig. 9. Average power output hourly for day 3.

Time

Temperature (C)

Fig. 10. Solar irradiance vs time (day 3).

50
40
30
p-Si
c-Si
ambient

20
10

a-Si
CIS

pm
30
7.

pm
6.

30

pm
30
5.

pm
30
4.

pm
3.

30

pm
2.

30

pm
1.

.3
12

30

0p
m

m
.3

11

.3
10

0a

0a
m

am
9.

30

am
30
8.

7.

30

am

Time

100
80
60
40
20
0

Time
Fig. 12. Normalized output efciency vs time (day 3).

pm
30
7.

pm
30
6.

pm
30
5.

pm
30
4.

pm
30
3.

pm
30
2.

pm
30
1.

0p
m
.3

12

0a
m
.3

11

0a
m
10

.3

am
30
9.

am
30
8.

30

am

p-Si
a-Si
c-Si
CIS

7.

Efficiency (%)

Fig. 11. Comparison of ambient temperature with module temperature (day 3).

1944

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

Output Power (W)

70

solar module used in the eld study has shown higher module
efciency compared to the amorphous silicon solar module. This is
also expected since both solar cells are categorized under the thin
lm technology, with CIS solar cells having higher efciency under
the Standard Test Conditions. Therefore under the eld conditions,
the CIS solar module is expected to have higher efciency value
compared to amorphous silicon solar module.

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Irradiance (W/m2)
Fig. 13. Output power of p-Si module vs irradiance.

Output Power (W)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

25

30

35

40

45

50

Temperature (C)
Fig. 14. P-Si output power vs module temperature.

shown in Fig. 21 is the average value of all 3 days which includes

low-light and high-light conditions. As expected the mono-crystalline silicon solar modules efciency is the highest, followed by
the multi-crystalline silicon type. Crystalline silicon solar cell is well
known for their high cell efciency, therefore they are expected to
have higher efciency if compared to the thin lm technology. CIS

9. Performance ratio analysis

The performance ratio is calculated to determine which type of
solar cells is actually performing the best in average under Malaysias climate. This calculation took into account the output power
and irradiance level which are to be compared with the Standard
Test Condition. Although the value of performance ratio is more
than 1, it is possible since the data for calculation is obtained under
low light condition and not as specied 1000 W/m2 in the Standard
Test Condition. In Fig. 22, amorphous silicon and CIS solar module
had shown a better performance ratio compared to the bulk silicon
solar module. This is expected in Malaysias weather climate as
researches conducted in oversea founded that thin lm technology
performs best in hot and humid environment [2]. The solar irradiation level during the study was much lower than the yearly average
value. This may be due to the unstable weather with much of cloudy
and rainy days during the study period. This conrms that the CIS
and amorphous silicon solar cells perform better under low light
condition. Finally average data have been summarized in Table 1
with the rated values.
However, the data recorded in the study can be affected by some
unavoidable factors as explained below.
(1) Dirt and dust
Dirt and dust can accumulate on the solar module surface,
blocking some of the sunlight and reducing output. Although

Output Power (W)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Irradiance (W/m2)
Fig. 15. Output power of c-Si module vs irradiance.

Output Power (W)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

25

30

35

40

45

Temperature (C)
Fig. 16. C-Si output power vs module temperature.

50

55

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

1945

Output Power (W)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Irradiance (W/m2)
Fig. 17. Output power of a-Si module vs irradiance.

Output Power (W)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

Temperature (C)
Fig. 18. A-Si output power vs module temperature.

45

Output Power (W)

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Irradiance (W/m2)
Fig. 19. Output power of CIS module vs irradiance.

45

Output Power (W)

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

25

30

35

40

45

Temperature (C)
Fig. 20. CIS output power vs module temperature.

50

55

N. Amin et al. / Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 19391946

Efficiency (%)

1946

Table 1
Performance indices.

Average Module Efficiency

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

P-si

A-si

C-si

CIS

Type

Performance Ratio

Fig. 21. Average module efciency of solar module used in study.

1.15
1.1
1.05
1
0.95
0.9
0.85

Average Performance Ratio

a-Si

c-Si

mc-Si

CIS

Rated value
Maximum Power, Pmax (W)
Maximum Current, Imax (A)
Maximum Voltage, Vmax (V)
Short Circuit Current, Isc (A)
Open Circuit Voltage, Voc (V)

64.00
3.58
16.50
4.80
23.80

75.00
4.63
17.20
4.87
21.60

65.00
3.69
17.60
3.99
22.10

40.00
2.41
16.6
2.68
23.30

Measured value
Average Ambient Temperature, Ta,ave ( C)
Average Module Temperature, Tm,ave ( C)
Average Module Voltage, Vave (V)
Average Module Current, Iave (A)
Average Module Power, Pave (W)
Module Area (m2)
Fill Factor, FF
Average Output Efciency (%)
Average Module Efciency, h (%)
Performance Ratio

30.3
39.14
14.277
1.48
21.6
0.938
0.56
33.74
2.23
1.046

30.3
40.22
13.7
1.59
22.58
0.432
0.712
30.1
6.87
0.933

30.3
39.19
14.34
1.35
19.72
0.483
0.73
30.34
5.14
0.941

30.3
40.75
13.88
0.99
14.13
0.384
0.64
35.31
3.99
1.094

10. Conclusion
p-Si

a-Si

c-Si

CIS

Type
Fig. 22. Average performance ratio of each type of solar module.

typical dirt and dust is cleaned off during every rainy season, it is
more realistic to estimate system output taking into account the
reduction due to dust build-up in the dry season. In order to
avoid reduction of performance attributable to dirt and dust
collected on the solar module, a tilt of 530 degree is optimal.
(2) Wind speed and direction
Wind speed can play an important role in determining module
temperature, since convective heat losses at the surface of the
module are much larger at high wind speeds. Wind direction
has to be related to module placement to determine how strong
this effect is at any given time. The size of the solar module itself
also determines how much heat can be dissipated at a time.
(3) Mismatch and wiring losses
The maximum power output of the total PV array is always less
than the sum of the maximum output of the individual modules.
Power is also lost to resistance in the system wiring. It is
expected that about 3% of the total power produced are lost in
the mismatches of wires.
(4) Other variables of interest
Other variables which one may choose to observe are UV-radiation, the spectrum of sunlight, humidity, air pressure and the
air moisture level.

The weather condition in Malaysia is very suitable for photovoltaic implementation. This is because the weather condition is
almost predictable and the availability of sunlight for more than
10 h daily. As it is possible to have about 6 h of direct sunlight with
irradiation of between 800 W/m2 and 1000 W/m2, it is already very
good to consider for the usage of photovoltaics. In addition, the
capability of thin lm technology solar cells to work under low light
condition makes photovoltaic usage more efcient and more power
could be obtained from sunlight. The Standard Test Condition (STC)
which species the ambient temperature to be 25  C is not applicable in Malaysia and only serves as a reference. The solar cells used
in the eld study shows that the average temperature is about 42  C
and this will change the characteristics of the output power.
Amorphous silicon and CIS solar cells have shown better performance ratio than mono- and multi-crystalline silicon solar cells in
the eld study. This shows that thin lm technology performs much
better in Malaysia and thus more power can be produced using the
solar cells. The CIS solar cells should be preferred if available and
the usage of amorphous silicon solar cells should also be promoted
instead of following the market trend of promoting the mono- and
multi-crystalline silicon solar cells.
References
[1] The German Solar Energy Society (DGS LV Berlin BRB). Planning and installing
photovoltaic systems. James & James/Earthscan; 2005. p. 23.
[2] Carr AJ, Pryor TL. A comparison of the performance of different PV module
types in high ambient temperature. ISES 2001, Solar World Congress; 2001.
[3] Shaari S, Kassim MN, Ahmad A. Performance characteristics of an amorphousbase solar photovoltaic system in Malaysia eld condition. In: Second national
seminar on energy in buildings, UiTM Shah Alam; March 2005.