Calculating electrical and thermal characteristics of multiple PV array configurations installed in the tropics

This study intends to define the electrical characteristics and temperature equations of PV array installed in the tropics based on Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) model. Ten units of 1 kW rated PV array namely Fixed Flat (FF), Tracking Flat (TF) and Concentrating (CPV) have been installed at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang District, Malaysia at the coordinate of 2°59′20′′N:101°43′30′′E with tropical-based ground conditions. Electrical characteristics are the main elements of contributions where five operating conditions for CEEG PV Module are applied based on the SNL model to produce array parameter values. It is found that FF array projects the highest operating value of 12.06 A (Isc), 11.55 A (Imp), 524.78 V (Voc), 89.5 V (Vmp), and 1033.7 W (Pmp) with good regression fit and strong correlation R2 of more than 0.5. The versatility and accuracy of this work have been validated and applied for three different types of PV array system installed in the equatorial doldrum spot of uniform temperature–irradiance, high in humidity–rainfall and generally light wind field conditions. The parameters are calculated using filtered field data sampled at STC of 5% tolerance. Focal point of calculating array temperature (Tarray) as means of thermal effect on multiple PV array configurations is highlighted based on recent study on Tc equations and Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) analysis using field data at site.