Translation Equations for Temperature and Irradiance of the I-V Curves of Various PV Cells and Modules

A new practical formulation for the linear interpolation/extrapolation is proposed in order to translate the I-V curves to target conditions of irradiance (G) and PV device temperature (T). The accuracy of the method is investigated based on the experimental I-V curves of various kinds of PV cells and modules. By utilizing this method, four or three I-V curves measured at any G and T can be used as the reference I-V curves. This makes practical translation procedure much easier. The calculated I-V curves over a wide range of G and T well agree with measured results for various kinds of PV cells and modules. The difference between the calculated and measured P_max was 0.5% or less for indoor experiments, and 1.0% or less for outdoor experiments. These results indicate that the translation of the I-V curve based on the method is effective for estimating the performance of various PV devices under various climatic conditions