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PartIIIIVCharacterizationofPhotovoltaicCellsUsingPXINationalInstruments

PartIIIIVCharacterizationofPhotovoltaicCellsUsingPXI
PublishDate:Feb13,2012

Overview

Thisarticleisthethirdinaseriesofthreetutorialsonassessingtheperformanceofphotovoltaic(PV)cellsthroughIV
characterization.ThisseriesincludesanoverviewofPVcellsanddescribesthetheorybehindIVcharacterization.The
tutorialsalsoincludeanexamplesetupusingNationalInstrumentshardwareandafreedownloadablelibraryofNILabVIEW
codeforperformingtheIVanalysis.Theothertwoarticlesinthisseriesare:
PartIPhotovoltaicCellOverview(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7229)
PartIIPhotovoltaicCellIVCharacterizationTheoryandLabVIEWAnalysisCode
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230)
TableofContents

1.TestingPhotovoltaicCells
2.TypicalIVTestSystem
3.SMUforIVCharacterization
4.Summary
1.TestingPhotovoltaicCells

TwosimpletestscanbeperformedtoobtainallofthenecessarydataforsolarcellIVcharacterization.Thesetestsarethe
forwardbias(illuminatped)testandthereversebias(dark)test.Theycanbothbedonewithasourcemeasureunit(SMU)that
cansinkandsourcecurrentandvoltagewhenconnectedtoasolarpanel.
ForwardBias(Illuminated)Test
TheforwardtestgivestheilluminatedIVcurveforaPVcellasdescribedintheabovesection.Inalighttest,anIVsweepis
conductedwherethevoltageissweptupwardstartingatV=0,whilemeasuringthesinkingcurrent.Thefollowingvaluescan
becalculatedusingtheforwardbias(illuminated)test:
OpenCircuitVoltage(VOC)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890972)
ShortCircuitCurrent(ISC)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc19489097)
MaximumPower(PMAX),CurrentatPMAX(IMP),VoltageatPMAX(VMP)
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890973)
FillFactor(FF)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890974)
ShuntResistance(RSH)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890976)
SeriesResistance(RS)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890976)
MaximumEfficiency(MAX)(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890975)
ReverseBias(Dark)Test
ByblockingalllighttopreventitfromexcitingaPVcell,thecellcanbetestedasapassivediodeelementtodetermineits
breakdowndiodepropertiesandinternalresistances.TheIVparametersthatcanbeobtainedviathereversebias(dark)test
are:
ShuntResistance(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890976)(RSH)
SeriesResistance(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230/_Toc194890976)(RS)
AmbientConditionConsiderations

ManyoftheIVanalysisparameters,includingthemaximumefficiency(MAX),areaffectedbyambientconditionssuchas
temperatureandtheintensityandspectrumoftheincidentlight.Forthisreason,itisrecommendedtotestandcomparePV
cellsusingsimilarlightingandtemperatureconditions.
PVcellstobeusedinspacearetypicallytestedunderAirMass0(AM0)conditions,whileterrestrialcellsaretestedusingthe
AirMass1.5(AM1.5)standard.Also,cellsaretypicallytestedatatemperatureof25Candwithalightintensityof1sun
(1000W/m2).
2.TypicalIVTestSystem

NowlookatatypicalsetupforperformingIVcharacterization.Thissystemisbasedonvirtualinstrumentationtechnologies
developedbyNationalInstruments.NIgraphicalsystemdesign(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/3392)andvirtual
instrumentationtechnologiesempowerresearcherstofocusoninnovationbysimplifyingdeviceIVperformance
characterizationthroughhighlevelsoftwaredevelopmenttoolssuchasNILabVIEW,andtightlyintegrated,easytouse
hardwaremodulessuchastheNIPXI4130PowerSMU(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239).
Figure1depictsanexampletestsystemforIVcharacterization.

Figure1.ExampleofaTestSystemforIVCharacterization
First,alightsourceprovidesincidentradiationtoexcitethesolarpanel.Next,anSMUsuchasthePXI4130isusedtosweep
thevoltageandmeasurethecurrentfromthePVcellormodule.Additionally,severalsensorsarerequiredtomeasurethe
ambientconditionsinwhichthetestisconducted.Alightintensitymeter,orpyranometer,isusedtomeasuretheirradianceof
theincidentlightandatemperaturesensor(thermocouple,thermistor,orRTD)isneededtoobtainthetemperatureatwhich
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PartIIIIVCharacterizationofPhotovoltaicCellsUsingPXINationalInstruments

thetestisconducted.Adataacquisitionsystemwithanaloginputcapabilities,suchasNIMSeriesdataacquisition(DAQ
(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/201759)),isthenusedtoacquirethesesensormeasurementsand,alongwith
theSMU,interfacewithacomputer.SoftwaresuchasLabVIEWisusedtoacquire,analyze,anddisplaytheresultsoftheIV
characterizationtestsandassessthemainperformanceparametersforthesolarpanel.
Acoolingsystemcanbeaddedtocounterbalancetheheatingfromthelightsourcebymaintainingtheambienttemperature
andthetemperatureofthesolarcell.
3.SMUforIVCharacterization

AnSMU(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/6850)isaprecisionpowersourcinginstrumentthatprovidesvoltageand
currentsourcingandmeasurementresolutionatorbelow1mVand1A,respectively.Inaddition,SMUsfeatureafour
quadrantoutputthatcanbothsourceandsinkcurrentandvoltagefortestingeitherforwardorreversePVcharacteristics.An
exampleofanSMUisthePXI4130(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239).

Figure2.PXI4130PowerSMU(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239)
WiththePXI4130PowerSMU(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239),youcanperformsweepsofboth
currentandvoltagetodeterminetheIVcharacteristicsofPVcellsormodulesanddiodes.Thismodulecansinkupto10W
andhasisolatedoutputscapableofsourcingupto20Vand2A.Italsohasa1nAcurrentmeasurementresolutionrating,
andprovidessoftwareselectableoutputcapacitancetoenhancestability.NISMUsareshippedwithreadytorunLabVIEW
(http://www.ni.com/labview/)exampleprogramsforperformingIVsweeps.
ItispossibletocascademultiplePXI4130PowerSMUs(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239)inseriesto
attainlargervoltageswhensourcingpower(forreversebiastests).
IVcharacterizationcodeusingthePXI4130PowerSMU(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239)isavailable
atToolkitforIVCharacterizationofPhotovoltaicCells(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/epd/p/id/5918).
OtherTestSystemOptions

InplaceofthePXI4130PowerSMU(http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/204239),otherthirdpartySMUswitha
GPIBinterfacemaybeusedthatmeetrequiredspecificationsforPVtesting.Driversforthesethirdpartyinstruments
specificallycreatedforNIsoftwarecanbefoundattheInstrumentDriverNetwork(http://www.ni.com/devzone/idnet/)portal.
4.Summary

ThissectiongaveanexampleofatestsystemtocharacterizetheIVresponseofPV(solar)cells.Moreinformationabout
photovoltaiccellsandIVcharacterizationtheorycanbefoundintheprevioustwopartsofthistutorial:
PartIPhotovoltaicCellOverview(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7229)
PartIIPhotovoltaicCellIVCharacterizationTheoryandLabVIEWAnalysisCode
(http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7230)

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