Modelling, simulation and performance analysis of a PV array in an embedded environment

Photovoltaic (PV) generation involves the direct conversion of sunlight into electrical energy. In recent years it has proved to be a cost-effective method for generating electricity with minimum environmental impact. Due to the environmental and economic benefits PV generation is now being deployed worldwide as an embedded renewable energy source and extensive research is being performed in order to study and assess the effectiveness of PV arrays in Distributed Generation (DG) systems either as a potential energy source or as energy reserve in combination with other types of distributed energy resources. This paper presents the modeling and MATLAB simulation of a stand-alone polycrystalline PV Array system and investigates load following performance efficiency under various loading and weather conditions as well as suitability with regard to enhancing power supply reliability to critical loads. The modeling of the PV array that has been performed in this research using MATLAB Simulink is based on the calculation of parameters for the Thevenin´s equivalent circuit of each cell of the array. The standard double exponential polycrystalline cell model has been adopted for this research with solar irradiance E and ambient temperature T as the input and Thevenin´s voltage V_thar and Thevenin´s resistance R_thar as the output.