PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE IN WEATHER CONDITIONS OF MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA

Many Solar PV modules exhibit significant loss in their expected performance due to variations in weather conditions such as ambient temperature and solar irradiance which result in inaccurate prediction of the module performance in the field. Obviously, the Standard Test Conditions (STC) and the Nominal Operating Cell Temperatures (NOCT) do not represent real operating conditions of PV module at the site of installation. This paper evaluates the performance of commercially used polycrystalline solar photovoltaic module KD 315 under Maiduguri-Nigeria weather conditions. The model of the PV module was implemented using a MATLAB program and the model parameters are evaluated using daily data of temperature and solar irradiance obtained from Maiduguri for a period of one year. Simulation results confirm that current generated is directly proportional to solar irradiance and is almost independent of temperature. The voltage of the module decreases by about 0.5% per degree centigrade temperature increase. It was found that the power produced by the panel is dependent on the solar irradiance and ambient temperature. The manufacturer's maximum power of 315 W was achieved during the sunniest month. Thus the photovoltaic module exhibited good performance in the region under study.